Have a Little Hope
by calonzo2
Summary: <html><head></head>In this story Dick is kidnapped from the Juvenile detention center by the court of owls before Bruce could officially adopt him but after 2 years of searching Bruce manages to rescue him. I wanted him to have a mother figure as well so i decided to have catwoman be good and date bruce.</html>
1. Chapter 1

Have a little Hope

The weather was positively perfect today there wasn't a single cloud in the sky and as the weatherman reported it was supposed to stay like this all week. The first day of spring had finally arrived.

Haley's international traveling circus had arrived in Gotham a few days ago and they would be having their opening night the next day. As part of a charity function they would have be having a guest of honor as well Gotham's very own white knight Bruce Wayne so the circus performers felt honored and promised to give their best performance

Haley's circus was supposed to be the best circus in the world with the most talented performers in the world and it didn't hurt that they had the greatest family of acrobats straight out of Romania – The Flying Graysons

The Flying Grayson's consisted of two families the first was of Rick Grayson his wife Karla and their son Charlie along with Rick's brother John Grayson, his wife Mary and their son Richard. These famous acrobats were the only ones in the world who were capable of performing a quadruple summersault on the trapeze without the safety of a net

Mary looked over to her son at the dinner table "Dick make sure to eat everything on your plate"

"Sorry I'm just so excited for the performance I can hardly think about eating" dick was shaking with excitement in his seat

"I know how you feel bud" Charlie had hardly eaten as well

"I don't think we're going to get them to eat anymore" Karla looked to the rest of the family

"Alright, alright boys go ahead and get dressed" john told them and in a flash both boys jumped out of their seats and ran to the back of the trailer

The adults chuckled at their actions as Mary and Karla started to pick up the dirty dishes and turned to their husbands "We should clean up so that we can get ready too the show is going to be starting soon"

After a while all six of the Grayson's were in costume and began heading to the trapeze while everyone else waited backstage. "Good luck dick" Miranda smiled

Miranda was one of dick's closest friends at the circus she and her family had a wild animal act and it was amazing at what they could teach the animals to do for them

"Thanks good luck to you too" dick smiled

They then heard Haley's voice over the microphone "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Haley's International Traveling Circus! Before we begin let's give a round of applause to our guest of honor the white knight of Gotham Bruce Wayne!"

Dick watched as the spotlight shined on the man in the bleachers he looked very professional being dressed in a suit to a circus must mean that he was a very important person.

"Now the first act of the night will be our most famous act –The Flying Graysons! This amazing family as always will be performing their death defying act without the safety of a net!"

As the family was walking out a man bumped into dick, he recognized him right away as the man that was arguing with the day before "Mom! Dad! That that the guy that…"

"Dick quite" rick warned

"But the man he's.."

"Are you going to be like this all night?" Karla asked

Mary put her hands on his shoulders and began to push him forward "Come on tell us after the show" The graysons got into their positions at the top of the trapeze

"Introducing the fearless Flying Graysons!"

In the stands Bruce Wayne recognized the family right away from the day before when he had come as batman to stop a small group of thugs from harming the circus and as he watched them perform he was truly impressed

He watched as the youngest grayson jumped of the platforms and joined in on the performance but soon he returned to the platform while the rest began preparing for the finale

"Don't worry squirt you'll get your chance sooner or later" Charlie smiled down at him before he jumped back in to be caught by rick

Dick sat down on the platform watching happily as his family performed the finale he loved watching them having the best seat in the house from his spot that is until he heard a strange noise coming from above and glanced up to see what it was coming from

…He gasped in horror

The bolts holding the trapeze wires in place were gone and they were starting to become loose, and his family was still on the trapeze!

The Grayson's heard the strange noise as well and looked to see that dick was looking up at the wires when they glanced up as well they gasped at the sight. The wires finally slipped of the bolts

Dick watched as his family fell to their deaths hearing the snaps of their bones as they made contact with the ground and the puddles of blood beneath them. His cerulean began to water and tears began falling from his eyes while he crouched in his seated position on the platform

Everyone in the audience had a different reaction to what they had just witnessed most of them gasped, screamed, or cried. The only person Bruce was focused on was the little boy curled up in a ball at the top of the platform; he couldn't help but think of when his parents had died, he knew how the little boy felt

A couple hours later, The police had escorted the audience out as soon as they arrived at the scene, one of the circus workers had gone up to the platform to retrieve dick who was still in shock and as soon as he came down he was whisked away by police

The police had put each member of the grayson's in body bags and had sent them to the morgue of the nearest hospital. Dick just sat on the bleachers still crying and curled himself up again

Bruce had stayed out of the way of the police and medics, he continued to watch dick as he thought about the night in crime ally so many years ago where he had lost his parents as well

Commissioner Gordon had soon arrived when they had finally gotten dick to calm down and talk

"Hello Richard" he greeted but dick kept quiet as the tears continued to stream down his face "Alright then, I know that you aren't it the right state to talk but I need to know if you saw anything unusual before the show tonight?"

Dick sniffed and nodded "There was a man here, I recognized him from yesterday he had been arguing with about something I tried to tell my parent but-" tears began streaming out of his eyes again

"It's going to be okay, son. You've really helped me out

Bruce managed to hear that bit of information and narrowed his eyes 'this was no accident' he knew exactly who the boy was talking about and had silently sworn to bring him to justice. He watched as Gordon got up and left the boy alone.

Gordon went to his detective's side "I want a APB on this man the boy was talking about as soon as possible"

"What about the boy?" Bruce came up to them and asked

"Mr. Wayne?! What are you doing here?"

"I was in the audience, couldn't leave after this" he turned to look at dick "Does he have anyone?"

"No" Commissioner Gordon sighed "The flying Grayson's were the only family he had and none of the circus workers have offered any place for him to stay so were going to have to call CPS to come and take him"

Bruce knew something wasn't right first why would the people he grew up with not want to take care of him especially if he had just lost his family; he had noticed that most of the adults in the circus seemed a bit suspicious. He also knew how child protective services could be and didn't know what to think of the boy being placed in the system.

"We'll be taking him down to the police station for now until we get him a social worker but first he needs to get his stuff together and get changed" a detective told them

"Would you mind if I escorted the boy to help him get packed I know how he feels about this situation since I lost my family too" bruce asked

"Sure that would be fine " Gordon nodded

Bruce made his way over to the small boy who didn't notice him until he was right in front of him "Hello Richard, I'm Bruce Wayne I'm sorry about your loss"

"Thanks " he mumbled

"I offered to come and help you pack to go with the police station for now so why don't we go to your trailer so you can get changed"

"I'm not dumb I know that I'm an orphan now and I'll have to leave the circus" Dick got up from his seat and lead Bruce back to his trailer

"I need to go speak with so why don't you get started and I'll be back"

Dick nodded and stepped inside the trailer then shut the door behind him

Bruce wanted to speak with Haley about the specific situation on why Tony Zucco had been arguing with him the day before but when he was about to knock he heard haley speaking to someone over the phone

"Yes I know that but can't you at least wait until he's a little older he's only 6 years old right now and I doubt he could learn anything in the state he's in right now"

Bruce lifted an eyebrow and decided to listen in on the conversation

"John and Mary asked to at least wait until he was a teenager so that he could better understand what was going on" he now knew Haley was talking about dick "Their deaths shouldn't signify that he should be taken right away!"

'What is going on?' bruce thought

"Richard is going to be taken into the custody of the officials in Gotham so how do you plan on getting to him now?...I want to know that he'll be ok at least!...How soon are you coming for him?...can't you at least tell me that!...Alright fine goodbye!"

Bruce now knew that someone was coming for Richard but what he didn't know was if that was a good or bad thing. He had a gut feeling that it was a bad thing from the tone of haley's voice and decided that this would be much more important that some random thug. He headed back to the trailer to see that dick had changed into a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt with a suitcase in his hand

"I'm all set" he said quietly

"Ok but I wanted to ask you something" dick looked up to him with a questionable look "Is there any friend or family that you have that would be willing to take you in?"

Dick shook his head "No my only living family died tonight and the only friend we had were here in the circus but I guess they think I'll be better off if I leave the circus"

"All right then, now I want you to know that you're not alone when I was about your age I lost my family as well" dick gave him a surprised look "I was a little older then you but I was able to heal and move on so you should try too"

Dick nodded "Thanks "

"Ok we should head back the police are probably wondering where we are"

"What's going to happen after I go with them?"

"You'll have to go through a mass faculty when you are assigned a social worker but they'll try to find you some place to stay after a while"

"Did that happen to you?"

"No….I had a different situation because of my family's status"

"Oh" he looked down

"But you're a good kid so I know people will want to take you in"

"How would you know that you just met me?"

"Just an inference from what I've seen, we should start heading back now"

"Right" he nodded

They headed back to the center ring where commissioner Gordon and detective bullock were waiting "Are you all set?"

"Yes I have everything packed in here" dick motioned to his suitcase

"Ok then we'll be on our way then" Gordon took one of the boy's hands and turned to Bruce "Thanks for your help "

"It was no problem" Bruce smiled

Dick turned to him "Well goodbye and thanks again" he smiled

"You're welcome"

oOo

Alfred came to pick up Bruce in the limo just as always but didn't expect the scene he saw when he arrived. The numerous police cars parked out front, some ambulances, and a few detectives talking to some of the circus workers

When Bruce got into the back of the car and he began driving he turned to him "What happened here tonight master Bruce?"

Bruce looked out the window "There was a murder tonight, five people died"

"Oh?!" Alfred's eyes widened "Were you involved somehow or…"

"The family that died left behind a 6 year old boy who is now in the police custody, I was able to help him out since I know how he feels"

"I see"

"The trapeze they were performing on was tampered with and that's what caused the death of the acrobats"

"This was during the show I take it?"

"Yes, the boy Richard was right there when it happened he saw the entire thing"

Alfred pulled into the parking lot of the manor "Why don't we continue this inside master Bruce"

"Fine sure" Bruce got out of the limo and walked into the manor straight to the first floor living room

"I will prepare us some coffee" Alfred moved to the kitchen to do so

"Yeah that would be great Alfred" Bruce sat down on a recliner and stared into the fire inside the chimney thinking about the event of the night, he was so lost in thought that he didn't realize how much time had passed when Alfred came back in with a tray of coffee

"There you are sir, now would you explain what exactly happened tonight?"

"Well" he thought for a moment trying to gather the basic information together "Basically the circus owner was threatened yesterday by a mobster by the name of tony zucco and because he didn't get what he wanted he sabotaged the trapeze wires causing the death of the acrobats"

"Will batman be investigating this tony zucco then?"

"I do plan on it but something more suspicious is going on with that circus that worries me"

"What do you mean sir?"

"While Richard went to pack his things I overheard the circus owner Haley on the phone and he was talking about Richard being taken soon by someone soon"

"Shouldn't that be a good thing he will have a new home sooner than we thought"

"I don't think so Alfred from the tone of haley's voice I don't think the ones he were talking to are normal people"

"What do you plan on doing?"

"I'm going to investigate what is going on with that circus and hopefully bring zucco to justice as well"

"And the boy sir?"

"What about him?"

"If those people who are coming for him get to him first he may be in danger so don't you think we should do something about that?"

"What are you suggesting Alfred?"

"I am saying that the boy should come and stay here where you can protect him"

"What?!"

"Well he does need a home and from what I've heard you have become quite attached to the boy since he reminds you of yourself"

"I'm not the fatherly type Alfred and with my secret life as batman I wouldn't have time for him anyway and it would be better if a man and woman adopted him that a way he could have a father and mother figure"

"What about you and Miss Kyle sir? You are currently seeing her right?"

"Selina isn't exactly the motherly type either"

"If you continue this master Bruce whoever is coming for the boy will most likely succeed and we might not ever see the boy again"

"The person over the phone didn't say how soon they were coming so we might have time to do something. Even if I did want to take him in he doesn't even have a social worker yet so I would have to wait for that then have to go through the adoption process that could take a while and Selina and I aren't even married for another thing"

"There is no such thing as the perfect family master Bruce and selina has begun to change her ways as catwoman so maybe soon you can reveal yourself as batman to her and form a family with the boy"

Bruce thought for a moment and felt it was a good idea for the boy to have a home and be protected "How do we go about this then?"

Alfred smiled "You would first have to talk with his social worker, then they would have to inspect the manor and then finalize the adoption which shouldn't take too long"

"Alright then we can get started tomorrow morning"

oOo

Dick spent the night in a cell at the police station, it had been at least 24 hours since his family died and had entered into the Child Protective service system

He had fallen asleep from pure exhaustion and Commissioner Gordon took him to the nearest cell so that he could sleep on a bed. He had a nightmare which caused him to wake up and gasp; he felt sore from sleeping on such a small cot and stretched his muscles. Dick went to the door of the cell and pushed it open then looked down the hallway and headed toward Gordon's office

"Ah I see you're awake" He turned around to see Gordon was heading back to his office "I was actually coming to get you"

"Why?"

"Your new social worker is here for you and she will be taking you to a temporary holding place until we find you a suitable family"

"Oh ok then" he nodded and gorgon led him back to his office where he met a middle aged woman in a suit and had a mean looking face

" this is Richard Grayson" Gordon introduced him

"It's nice to meet you miss" Dick offered his hand for a hand shake but she ignored it and turned to Gordon making him frown

"Thank you Commissioner I'll be taking Richard into my custody so you won't have to bother with him anymore"

"It was really no trouble" Gordon smiled then revealed Richards suitcase "Here are his things"

"The boy can carry his own things"

"Oh alright then" Gordon handed the suitcase to Richard who thanked him and took the suitcase

"We'll be going then" took dick by his wrist and yanked him out the door ignoring his protests then placed him in the car and drove

"Um when will I be able to say bye to everyone at the circus"

"You can say your goodbye's at the funeral"

"Oh when will that be?"

"How should I know I'll let you know as soon as I find out now stay quiet" she yelled making him flinch and keep quiet

After a few minutes of driving they came to a stop outside of Gotham's Juvenile Detention Center, dick blinked in surprise 'Why are we outside a jail?'

"Hurry up!" the woman yelled making him quickly do as he was told and got out of the car with his suitcase

"Yes Ma'am!"

"Oh you can drop the act now you can't fool me" Dick lifted an eyebrow at her "I know how you gypsy's really are a bunch of liars and thieves so stop with the gentleman act already!"

"Why are we here?" Dick asked

"We are here because this is where I've chosen to place you, I believe a person of your kind shouldn't be placed with well behaved children so you can manipulate them so I'm placing you with people you can relate to, now come on!" She grabbed his wrist again and yanked him to the entrance of the center

The front office was exactly as he pictured it would be very professional looking and had some policemen by the doors, waiting area, and a front desk with a woman behind it,

"This must be Richard" the lady looked at him over the desk she seemed a little friendlier than his social worker

"Hello" he greeted

"It's nice to meet you Richard I am I am the head office official here. Why don't you have a seat while I sort some things out with your social worker then I'll get back to you"

"Alright" he nodded

"Now then I have to say this is very unusual for a child to be placed here with no criminal record"

"This is an option for children in our system we just never needed to send a child here" Ms. Russuel explained

"I know about that but I still don't like it" frowned "Do you have the proper paperwork for this?"

"That will be faxed over as soon as I am back at my office"

"A child this young has never been placed in this center even for criminal offences isn't there a way to swap an older child already in the system and place Richard where they were?"

"That would require a lot of paperwork that I simply don't have the time for, besides this one should be fine here with the way his kind is he could learn a thing or two from the discipline at least it's an improvement from where he used to live"

"It's not nice to talk bad about other people"

"And straighten out that attitude" frowned

"Well….." looked over some of the paperwork she had with her "It doesn't seem like I have much of a choice here do I but I will be sending requests to have him moved to a better environment, he certainly doesn't belong in a place like this" She put her approval signature on the papers and handed them back to the social worker

"I'll be on my way then" turned and left

looked down at Richard "Now I know this is very scary for you especially with everything that's happened yesterday but I'm also a therapist so if you need to talk then you can come to me and ask alright"

"Yes ma'am" he nodded

"There are a couple of things you need to know first this is Gotham's Juvenile Detention center but you probably already knew that right" he smiled and nodded "It isn't normal to have a child with no criminal record be sent here but I'll be placing you in a room with a child with the least criminal record possible alright"

"Tomorrow morning there will be an alarm at 6:00am to wake everyone up for breakfast, after that you will be taken to a room to be tested.."

"Tested?" he asked

"Different sort of tests but basically academic test to see what level of schooling you're at so that you can start attending classes" he nodded in response "you will have to change into these clothes as well" she handed him a white shirt and tan cargo pants" this is what you have to wear if you don't wear the regular orange uniform"

"At least that's a little better"

"Now why don't we get you settled alright?"

"Ok"

_To be continued_

**This is the second fanfiction I've written but for this one I decided not to write it in a notebook and just go straight to publishing each chapter when it comes to mind although publishing chapter could take longer but I hope you like it**


	2. Taken

Taken!

**I already know that dick's cousin's name was john but I didn't want to get confused when I was writing about his dad or his cousin so I gave him a different name.**

**I got the title of this story when I heard a song that I felt perfectly matched the relationship between bruce, selina, and dick it's called: Mandy Moore – Have a little faith in me. I thought they didn't know each other enough for faith so I put hope instead.**

**Thanks for the reviews hope to get more soon**

Dick learned that everyone wasn't as nice as they could be at the detention center, after he had changed clothes and given his suitcase to Ms. Rossi she asked the closest guard to take him out to the yard. The man must have thought he was some kind of delinquent because he had been very harsh about taking him, Ms. Rossi must not have noticed how roughly the man grabbed his arm then pulled him through the gated doorway into a hallway of jail cells as he stumbled to try and keep up with the man's pace

They finally came to some double doors, the officer took out a card from his pocket and swiped in on a pad by the door then punched in a code as the doors opened. Dick was pushed into the yard and looked back to see the guard close the doors leaving him out there so he looked around the yard to see it full of boys in orange jumpsuits some were sitting at the tables built into the ground, others were playing basket ball and there was a courtyard where most of the boys were conversing. The entire yard was surrounded by a large fence with barb wire at the top and there were several guard stationed throughout the yard to watch them.

Some of the inmates in the courtyard noticed how scared he looked and began approaching, dick began getting even more scared as they came up to him not knowing what to do

"Well, well, well what d we have here?" a teenage large teenage boy with some scars on his arms and some tattoos smirked at him

He gulped at the sight of them "M-my name's Richard" reverting back to his Romanian accent, he had been able to learn the English language a bit but was still having trouble talking without his accent every now and then

The boy in the middle lashed out at him grabbing him by his collar then bringing him up to his face "I don't rememba askin ya name kid!" he punched him in the stomach making him crumble to the ground in pain

Another boy kicked him to the wall making him sit up to a position he could look at them "Now listen here, pipsqueak! Here's how things are gonna work. My name is Ray and you will follow and rules I give you got that!"

He flinched at the harsh tone but nodded

"Good, these are my boys Alex, ethan, and nick they're orders are second to mine, Got that!" Dick nodded again, when tears started to well up in his eyes the boys snorted and punched him in the face, he held his cheek in pain.

He turned to look at the numerous gaurds that were posted around the yard but even though they noticed the trouble he was in they didn't move an inch from their positions. One of the boys grabbed his jaw and made him turn to face them

"Don't go looking to the gaurds for help they could care less what happens to you as long as you don't die and trust me no one here is going to allow you that privilege" Ethan smirked

Ray grinned down at him "You got a lot to learn pretty boy and we'll be glad to volunteer"

oOo

Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle had been dating for the past couple of years having a few breaks along the way because of their double lives but they always managed to stay together. Now Bruce felt that he had known her long enough to trust her with his secret

"What is so important that I needed to come over right away?" selina asked

"I wanted to take a step further in our relationship" her eyes widened "But before we do I think we both have something to confess to each other"

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see" Bruce led her to the front of his old grandfather clock getting a confused look on her face until he set a particular time on it and it moved to the side revealing a secret passageway "Follow me" he walked into the hall going down the stairs

She was hesitant to follow at first but knew that bruce would never hurt her so went after him, once they reached the bottom of the stairs she was shocked to see the massive cave. Looking around to take in the detail; there were 3 floors to the cave each separated by metal pillars, the first had a large computer with a chair in front of it with a lab on the side, the second had a training section and there were some cases on the side with numerous batsuits inside them and the third floor had the vehicles. The batmobile was facing a tunnel that led outside the cave a batcycle on the side and in the river there was a the batboat by a small port. 'batman?'

"Ah I see you have brought Miss Kyle down after all" Alfred came up to them from cleaning the cave

"I knew that I could trust her with this secret"

"I-I certainly W-wasn't expecting this" she stuttered

"Now that you know my secret I believe you have something to confess to me don't you"

Her eyes widen and thought back to all the times she had fought batman as catwoman during her jewel thief days but she had began turning a new leaf so she felt a little relief "You really are the World's Greatest Detective" she smiled and he smiled back

"I believe you have something else to tell her master bruce"

"Right, Selina have you heard about the deaths of the flying Grayson's at Haley's circus yet?"

"I did hear the reporter mention something about it on the news this morning why?"

"They were a family of acrobats and when they died they left behind a six year old boy that I think is in danger"

"So what do you plan on doing about this?"

"I was actually planning to adopt him"

Selina's eyes widened "Bruce are you sure about this a child is a huge responsibility I know he's in danger but isn't adoption a bit extreme"

"I know but I feel slightly attached to him" she lifted an eyebrow "His family died just like mines and I think I can help him get through this hard time since I know how he feels"

She smiled at that "I see you really care about him so I promise to help you in any way I can"

"From what I know of experience with Child Protective Services you need to meet with his social worker and I am sure he has one by now" Alfred informed them

"We just have to go down to the administration building and request the adoption of Richard john Grayson"

"Yes and CPS opened some time ago so if you are ready shall we get going?" Alfred asked

Bruce turned to his girlfriend "Selina would you mind being his foster parent with me"

"I would be happy too" she agreed

oOo

Dick had begun getting accustomed to the schedule at the center getting up at 6:00am to go to breakfast, then to classes and then to the yard to do whatever they pleased which for him meant getting bullied by the inmates

During the beginning of his stay it had been taken up with the tests told him about; he easily passed the academic exams they had given him to place him in classes, The psychological tests were a bit emotional for him and the physical tests were a bit painful from all the bruising he had gotten.

Ms. Rossi had asked what had happened to cause the bruises from the ones she saw on his face and arms but he was too scared of the boys to rat them out so he just told her that he had fallen a few times though she didn't believe him

Right now dick was sitting in a classroom working on some homework they had given him

"Hey it's the circus freak!" a voice came from the door of the room

He immediately knew he was in trouble, he had quicly become everyone's favorite punching bag at the center once ray had spread work of the new meat and turned to see two teenage boys approaching him

"seems you're a bit of a nerd too huh gypsy" One of them grabbed his math textbook and flipped through the paged before dropping it back on the desk then swiping everything off

Dick shook in fright "leave me alone" he cried

"What wrong crybaby not tough enough to take a little harsh words"

"Maybe he needs another lesson so he doesn't try talking back" The other placed a fist in his other hand and approached him, dick braced himself when the classroom door opened

"What are you boys doing here?" Ms. Rossi frowned at the two teenagers

"We were on our way to the yard when we saw this one drop his stuff so decided to come and help him"

She didn't believe him so turned to dick "IS this true Richard?"

"Um….." One of the boys sent a glare at him "Yes !" he flinched

She sighed and turned to the boys "Well get going then and leave him alone from now on he's been through enough!"

"Sure Ms. Rossi " they waved her off and left

Dick released his breath he had forgotten he was holding 'That was close'

"Were they really just helping you Richard" Ms. Rossi came up to his desk "Or was it something else"

He wanted to tell her the truth about everything that had been going on especially since he knew it was wrong to lie 'but what if they beat me up for telling on them' "They were just talking to me"…..'at least that's not a total lie'

She shook her head "Alright but if they hurt you I want you to tell me okay"

"Yes , is there any chance I can be moved from the center?"

"I haven't heard anything from your social worker" she watched as his shoulders slumped and looked to the ground "But I'm heading over there to put in a request to have you moved so you can count on that"

"Thanks Ms. Rossi" he mumbled

oOo

Alfred drove Bruce and Selina to the CPS administration building but he decided to wait in the they passed through a metal detector then went to the service desk of the lobby

"Were looking for the social worker of a Richard Grayson" Selina asked

"Richard Grayson?" The woman typed in the name on her computer "That would be Ms. Janine Russuel, her office is on the Fourth floor you'll want to take the elevator up then look for room 403"

"Thank you" Bruce thanked and walked toward the nearest elevator

"Bruce you might want to consider calming down, you aren't going to make a good impression witht hat attitude" Selina scolded

"Sorry, I'm just frustrated that I wasn't able to find out any information on who haley was talking to the other night I'm worried that they'll get to Richard before we do"

"I understand but you need to focus on the task at hand, alright"

A woman stepped into the elevator with them, selina turned to her "Which floor, miss?"

"The fourth floor, please" when she saw that the couple was heading there as well she turned to them "I'm sorry to bother you but may I ask, who are you here to see?"

They exchanged glanced "Ms Janine Russuel" Bruce answered

"Why?" she asked

"We were hoping to adopt one of her cases Richard Grayson and came to see her" selina answered

"Richard?!" she was surprised

The Multi-Billionare looked surprised as well "Yes, but how do you know that?"

"I actually know Richard too I've met with him a few times" she geld out her hand "Rachel Rossi, I'm the head therapist at the faculty he's assigned to"

Bruce shook her hand "How has he been I haven't seen him since the night at the circus"

"I saw him earlier today before I came here, some boys looked like they were going to hurt him but he was too scared to tell me the truth" she thought back to the two boys "They were some of the more offensive boys at the center so they won't be released anytime soon"

'released?' bruce got confused 'what is she talking about' "Ms. Rossi I'm confused, what do you mean by Offensive and released?"

"I suppose you don't know yet, placed Richard in the Juvenile Detention Center"

"Juvie!" Bruce yelled making both women jump "Who puts a Six year old boy in a place like that!"

"Calm down bruce" selina put her hands on her hips "We won't get anywhere if you lose your temper"

"Is that even legal?" bruce asked

"It would be better to discuss this somewhere we can be alone " Ms. Rossi looked at the people starting to stare when they got off the elevator "Follow me" she led them to a door down the hall labeled 'Janine Russuel, Social worker'

The door was locked though "Well the hallway is empty so we can wait for her out here"

"I need to know what's been going on, how is it even possible to place an innocent little boy in a detention center"

"That can't be legal" selina joined in

"I'm afraid it isn't illegal, placing children into the center is an option for social workers but it has only ever been used as a last resort or if the child is to dangerous to be placed in a regular orphanage"

"Then why was he place there surely there must have been an opening in at least one orphanage" Bruce asked

"This is just my opinion but from the interaction I saw between them I would say that Ms. Russuel just doesn't like Richard I would even call her a racists because she called him a gypsy"

"What does she have against Romanians?" Selina asked

"I wouldn't know but she's an encyclopedia when it comes to the law and I don't think she would've done something like this if she wasn't confident there wasn't any law against it"

"This is so wrong" bruce growled

"I agree, you seem to be pretty upset about this, I suppose you were hoping to take him home"

"Yes but after what we just heard we aren't just hoping anymore we are taking him home" selina crossed her arms

"Then I'll do whatever I can to help you out" She turned to bruce "You should start by controlling your anger especially when you are speaking with Ms. Russuel she could mark you as unstable and then you'd have no chance"

"So if I want to adopt Richard, I have to be nice to that…." He notice the disapproving glare selina sent at hime "Woman"

"That's about it" She checked her watch "It's already after eight so if she isn't in yet, she must have had to do some errands so she won't be back anytime soon"

"So what are we supposed to do?" selina asked

"You can come and see Richard at the center, he could use a bit of comfort and hearing he'll be given a new home will be great news to tell him"

"Yes" Bruce agreed

"Where is the center?" Selina asked

"It's the large building over on Worthington avenue you'll know it when you see it, and you can wait for me at the reception desk there"

They all moved back to their cars and once the couple got into the limo and told Alfred the address to go to, when he asked why they told him the whole story on what Ms. Rossi had told them

Their stomach's dropped when they walked inside the faculty and joined Ms. Rossi

"What level of offenders do you keep here?" selina asked

"All level unfortunately, I've been trying to sort them out by the levels but they say that would cost too much money so all I can do is try and make the kids behave"

"How had Richard been treated since he got here?" bruce asked

"Now well I'm afraid he's been hurt by some of the inmates but you can see him in just a minute I already told a guard to get him so you can head over to the visiting area"

"Ok thanks"

oOo

Dick felt like he was living a nightmare, everytime they got the chance he would be beaten by the inmates and the guards did nothing but watch. He had been to young to witness the horrors of life already seeing death, cruelty, crime, and abuse.

He was surprised to know that someone had come to visit him in this nightmare, he had been sitting on the floor of the courtyard watching the others and jumped when the guard called him over and quickly took him.

He was even more surprised to see it was Bruce Wayne and his girlfriend Selina Kyle here to see him, he was confused at what they would want to see him for but sat down in the chair for the table across from them

Bruce and Selina were shocked to see the state he was in. The six year olds arms were covered in scrapes and bruises that could clearly be seen since his olive toned skin had turned slightly pale. His clothes were a bit dirty and torn in some placed, his hair had obviously not been brushed in a while and there was a bruise forming on his check above his now split lip

"Hello Richard, you remember me right?" bruce asked and got a nod from Richard as a confirmation "I'd like you to meet selina kyle"

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Kyle" he greeted

"The pleasure's mine" she smiled

"The reason we're here to see you is because we were planning to adopt you" Dick's eyes widened in shock "We are going to meet with you social worker Ms. Russuel as soon as we leave to get the legal paperwork and when it's confirmed we'll be taking you to your new home"

Dick didn't know what to say, it was all so confusing. Why would Bruce Wayne want to take in a Romanian circus orphan he hardly knew?"

"You must be feeling a bit over whelmed huh?" selina asked

"Yeah it's just a lot to take in and so suddenly"

"I know that this is a big change for you but I hope that your happy we are planning on giving you a home" Bruce told him

"I am thrilled about that but I'm just confused on why you would want to adopt me"

"Why is it so confusing?" selina asked

"I mean You're Bruce Wayne a Multi-Billionaire, you own your own company and are pretty famous all around the world so why would you even want to take me in?"

Bruce smiled in response "Just because I'm so famous doesn't mean I'm not a regular person with feelings"

"Sorry" dick blushed

"Don't be I'm sure any person would wonder that if they were in your situation" selina assured him

"I also personally paid to arrange everything for your family's funeral; it will be taking place in about two days at Gotham's cemetery"

"Really you did all that, it's so nice"

"You're welcome and you should be let out of here to attend and so you can say your farewells to the people from the circus and tell them the news"

"Right" dick nodded

"Ms. Russuel should be back at her office by now so we should get going to start the adoption process" selina told them

"We have to go now Richard but you can count on seeing us again"

"Ok thanks you" Dick said before he was taken by a guard back to the yard ' I guess I was right not to give up hope'

oOo

Alfred drove Bruce and Selina back to the CPS building to meet with Ms. Russuel

Bruce knew he already wouldn't like the woman after what she had done to Richard but he knew he had to be on his best behavior if he wanted to adopt him and selina was right there with him to keep him in check

Though it was hard to keep up their act once they met the woman

"Bruce Wayne! It's such an honor to meet you" He felt sickened when she shook his hand but he pulled it back as politely as he could muster "We have some business to transact"

"Do we? I didn't know you were involved in any of my cases?" she smiled

"Richard Grayson" he tried to be nice "I would like to adopt him"

She got a confused look on her face "Why in the world would you want to do that?"

"I'm sorry?" he asked ' I need to keep him safe'

"I'm just a bit concerned that's all"

"What is there to be concerned about?" selina asked

"Well first of all you two aren't even legal married so you can't be his step-parents. If you were planning to adopt him separately then I don't think social services would place him with either of you. Mr. wayne you own an entire company that you have to run every day of the week and Ms. Kyle you're a flight attendant so neither of you would be around to raise him"

"I expected social services to be more delighted for one of their cases to be adopted, after all isn't that your purpose, to find him a home"

"She finally dropped her little act "Mr. wayne if you really want to adopt child I recommend you choose a different one, Richard is a gypsy"

"And that matters because…." Selina asked

"Simple his kind are nothing but a bunch of rats and thieves there's also the fact that he was raised in a circus so who knows what he's been taught. I plan on keeping him at the center so that we can turn him into a respectable person though I don't have much hope" she took out a folder from a cabinet and opened it "It seems he's still putting up that gentlemen act of his"

"You don't even know him!" selina lost her temper "You can't just judge someone by their race!"

"I have made plans to send him back to Romania if you must know that is his home country after all"

"There's no need to send him there he can have a home with us" bruce's temper was starting to crack

"What is your reason for taking in this boy you hardly know?"

"Can't a person do anything out of the kindest of their hearts anymore? Does there always have to be some kind of motive" selina asked

"Social services must know if you have something specific in mind to do with him once you have him"

"We're planning on giving him a home! So just give it up and let us adopt Richard!" Bruce yelled

She huffed and crossed her arms "Fine you want to little gypsy rat! You can have him! But once you start having problems don't even try sending him back here, he'll be you problem!"

"And you'll let us be?" selina asked

"If you will, won't be much of a loss to the system anyway"

"What is the soonest time I can take him home?" bruce asked

"The shorted amount of time this has ever taken is a week including the home inspection, the court dates, and the paperwork"

"Fine you have one week get it done!" selina huffed and left with bruce in tow. When they reached the enterance of the building they ran into Ms. Rossi again she had two big suitcases in her hands that were very familiar to bruce

"Oh I was hoping I'd catch up with you how'd it go?"

"It took a bit of persuasion but we managed to convince her into letting us adopt Richard and she's already started the process" selina answered

"I knew you'd be able to convince her so I brought you these" she handed them the suitcases and they each took one

"Who's is this? Selina asked

"It's the things Richard brought with him from the circus so I thought you might want to keep them since he'll eventually moving to your manor"

"Thank you Ms. Rossi" bruce thanked

oOo

No one would have known that the confirmation for the eligible adoption of Richard John Grayson came too late

Later that night around midnight in a cell at the juvenile detention center dick was sleeping quietly on his cot when he and every other inmate were awakened by a large explosion. He jumped in fright sitting straight up in his bed when some dust fell off the ceiling of the cell

The inmates were starting to get frazzled yelling and screaming about what was happening, when some guards ran by his cell he was able to get a bit of information

"What's going on!"

"There was an explosion by the yard entrance!" a voice came over the radio

"What caused it?"

"We don't know…wait there's some people coming in….Freeze!" a few seconds later the radio went dead as smaller explosions could be heard from the direction of the yard

Dick had begun getting scared trying to find some place to hide 'why would people be breaking 'into' a jail?' he crawled under the bed and placed the cover over the opening to hide himself

He heard distant yelling, screaming and shooting now just down the hall so he covered his ears with his hands as he shook 'please let this be over soon' he cried. There was then the sound of what seemed like metal shoes running down the hallway of his cell, he bit his lip and tried to stay as quite as possible

"Quite all of you!" a man yelled toward the inmates "Which cell is the boy in?"

"That one!" he must have pointed to his cell because a few seconds later the bar door was blown off

'please make them leave' dick was now shaking more than ever until the bed was flipped over making him scream at the sight of two men dressed in owl looking armor. He tried to run

"Grab him!" he was caught by the back of his collar and pulled against the chest of one of the men

"Let me go!" he cried

"Knock him out!" he was sprayed in the face with some sort of gas making him slowly lose consciousness

"We have the boy let's move out!" the man called over the communicator

_To be continued_


	3. The court of Owls

The Court of Owls

Bruce was now in the batcave preparing to go out to patrol gotham. He had already put on his batsuit and was now adjusting his gloves on the second floor.

"You're going out on patrol?" selina asked from the first floor

He looked up to see her by the stairs "I do this every day of the week, you know that"

"Need any help?"

"I'll be fine, catwoman is still known as a criminal to gotham so it wouldn't be right if batman was seen with her"

She thought about it for a moment "True"

"I have finished placing Richard's belongings in his selected room master bruce" Alfred came down to join them

"Thank you alfed" bruce walked over to the pole and slid down to the last floor to get to the batmobile when an alarm sounded over the batcave and the computer was pulling up an alert

"What's going on?" selina asked

"Alfred check the signal!" bruce called

Alfred ran over to the computer and pulled up the information "It seems that all available police and medics have been alerted to a distress signal from" when he saw from where he immediately got as bad feeling

"From where Alfred? Bruce called

He hesitated to tell him "Gotham's Juvenile Detention Center sir"

Bruce and selina were both shocked and both felt a sudden pang in their hearts, selina looked down at him "Bruce you don't think…" but she saw that the batmobile had already started and drove out of the tunnel

Batman hoped that what he thought wasn't true and that there was just a small problem with the inmates of the detention center, he hoped that Richard was still safe in his cell, but deep down he knew that he was wrong

His foot pressed harder on the gas flooring it and he wrapped his hands tighter on the steering wheel. He had driven through gotham plenty of times but now it what was usually minutes felt like hours to get to the other side of the city.

The scene at the center seemed chaotic there were numerous policemen outside of the center and some ambulances on the side. Commissioner Gordon was speaking with the director and a few other officials by the entrance, some medics were tending to the wounds of some of the guards and helping them the critically injured to the ambulances. There were a few body bags on the ground that you could clearly see had dead bodies in them and there were a few firefighters still putting out some fire that had been erupted from the explosions.

Batman went up to Commissioner Gordon to find out what had happen, the officials backed away to give them their privacy

"What happened here?"

"Were not exactly sure but from what some of the gaurds told us some people broke into the center, we looked through the security footage but it was wiped out, nothing was stolen and its seems that all the inmates have been accounted for…"

"Actually sir one of the cells was broken into" a detective came up to them

"Who was the person assigned to that cell?" Gordon asked, batman already knew the answer before he responded

"Were still trying to figure that out the computer systems were destroyed so we have to wait until their fixed to find out"

"Try and see if any of the workers know who's cell it was"

"Yes sir!" the detective ran off

Gordon turned back to batman "The people who broke in came in from the yard entrance so you can look over there for clues on who they were"

Batman nodded headed straight to the yard, he was shocked to see a massive hole on the side of the building, it had been taped off by the police and detective were taking pictures and investigating the scene.

Nobody stopped him when he walked in through the hole to start his investigation, all the inmates close to the hole had been moved to other cells so they could investigate without interruption. Batman looked around to see some blood on the walls and multiple bullets on the floor 'who could have done this?' he then came to a stop when he saw the cell that had been broken into

It had been taped off as well but no one was around it so he strolled past the tape to inspect it, he saw that the bar door had been blown off the entrance and the bed had been flipped over 'You must have been so scared' he tried not to imagine what Richard must have been thinking when they broke in, he cloud already tell though that he had tried to hide under the bed. 'I promise I'll do whatever it takes to find you' he vowed and then continued to inspect the building for any clues

He narrowed his eyes when he saw a zig-zag shaped shuriken imbedded in one of the walls so he walked over to it and yanked it of the wall, he saw that it was black and gray with sharp points on each side. He turned it around to find an owl symbol on it, the owls wings made a circle shape around it. 'well that's something'

He decided to leave to look for any information on the symbol when he heard arguing back where Gordon and some of the workers were. He was surprised to see that Ms. Russuel had arrived but was now arguing with

"The little gypsy brat obviously escaped so we need to report him as an escaped convict" Ms. Russuel yelled at Gordon

"How would a six year old boy pull off an escape plan of this magnitude even if he did want to?!" Ms. Rossi yelled

'She must have been able to tell them who's cell that was' batman figured

"Who knows but would you like to explain why he is the only one missing?!"

"I don't know but I know that Richard was too innocent of a boy do something like this we need to get the police to search for him before something bad happens to him!"

"We need to report him as a convict!"

"Alright quiet!" Gordon yelled making them shut up "Richard may have been the only one taken" he saw Ms. Russuel was about to argue but glared at her to keep quiet "But we don't know all the details yet so for now we will report him as a missing person"

"Thank you" Ms. Rossi smiled while Janine huffed and stomped off

Gordon turned to batman "Were you able to find anything?"

"I investigated around the cell and was able to find a weapon imbedded into one of the walls it has a symbol on it so I'll be looking into it"

"Alright thank you" Gordon nodded

He was about to leave when Ms. Rossi called him

"Um batman sir" he turned to her "Can you please look for the boy Richard Grayson?! I'm sure he must be really scared wherever he is and Bruce wayne was planning to adopt him"

Seeing the look on her face she realized that she was extremely worried about Richard just as he was 'She must have gotten attached to him too' he decided' he really is a wonderful boy' "I swear I will do whatever I can to find him and bring him home"

oOo

Dick groaned as he began waking up and opening his eyes. He woke up to find that he was in what looked like a dungeon and immediately started getting scared again. He saw that the walls were made of cinderblock and he was sitting on an old looking blanket, he looked over to see a thin rectangular window on the side and ran over to it

When he almost reached one of his feet stopped him so he looked down and his eyes widened to see a brace around his ankle with a chain connected to the floor. 'what in the' he gaped at it and began shaking so he leaned over to look out the window a but saw nothing but a large forest and that it was still night 'Where am I?'

There was no source of light except for the window in the small room he was in and there was a door on the wall opposite from him but no knob. Even if he could get the door open he couldn't escape with the chain wrapped around his ankle.

He began crying in fear as he slid down the wall to sit on the floor and wrapped himself in a ball, he felt something hard around his neck making his eyes widen to look down and brought his hands up to it to feel what seemed like metal. It was thick wrapping around his entire neck and he could tell it was black with a few lights on it, he tried to get it off but it wouldn't even budge 'what is this thing' he cried as he started to panick

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door being opened from the other side of it and crawled as far from it as possible getting even more scared. The door opened to reveal more of those men he had saw before he was knocked out at the center

"W-w-who are you?!" he cried

They didn't answer his question and instead came up to him and grabbed him making him scream "QUIET!" he immediately obeyed as his arms were pulled behind his back and he could feel cuffs bounding them together. One of them bend down and got some keys from his belt then unlocked the brace on his foot

"Don't try running there are hundreds of talons around the facility and that collar will shock you if you even try!"

His eyes widened 'Talons?' he was pulled by the two men out into the hall that was made of cinderblocks as well and he could see other doors just like the one he had just come out of. 'What is this place?'

When they walked across a railing he could see over the pathway more of these men training at the bottom and they seemed to be really good at fighting 'why was I brought here?'

As far as he could tell the room that he was in had been in the basement of the building and on the opposite side of where they were taking him. They stopped in front of a door with an intercom on it

"Sir we have brought the boy" one of the men pressed the button

"Good bring him in!" the light on the top of the door flashed green and they opened it to lead him in. The floor was covered in carpet and there were lights made into the ceiling, behind a desk there was a man dressed in the same armor except he didn't have on the helmet, he could see the man was probably in his 60's or 70's.

He could also tell that this man was obviously the leader of these men and that frighten him making him shake and tears well up in his eyes

"No crying boy!" a man yelled making him flinch and was shoved to the floor

"You are dismissed men" the leader told them and they bowed then left the room leaving him alone with this man.

"Hello Richard" his eyes widened 'how does he know my name?' he was too scared to look up at him so continued to look at the floor

"I would like to start by introducing myself, I am willian cob and this is the court of owls"

"The court of owls?!" he blurted out

William smirked "Yes you have heard of us correct?"

He had heard of the court of owls only in the old children's nursery song and from urban myth's

"But you've probably only heard of us from what other people have told you am I right?" he gave a weak nod in confirmation "We are a cabal of some of the oldest and wealthiest families in Gotham, and we've used murder and money to make our name throughout history"

'So we must still be in gotham' dick concluded

"And to carry out our interest we use highly trained assassins called talons as you've most likely seen during your time here"

"So why am I here? Are you going to kill me?" he was afraid of the answer

"Were not going to kill you child were going to train you to become our heir as the most highly trained assassin in the world"

Dick's eyes widened and finally looked up at him "What?!"

"Your parents didn't tell you I assume"

"What do they have to do with anything?"

"It's not just your parent that have anything to do with this child it's the entire circus" he began explaining "Do you remember during your last tour in america Gotham's Children Night?"

He got even more confused but answered "Yes"

"Would you explain the purpose of that night to me please?" he asked

Dick didn't know what that had to do with the court of owls but answered "Gotham's Children Night is an event that happens for every generation of the circus, it one of the peeks of the circus. During that night the children of the circus get to perform on their own to try and show everyone what they could do"

"That is one of the purposes of that night but you see something you don't know is that during that night the court of owls were watching in the shadows" his eyes widened " We watched with sharp eyes for the one who would continue our legacy and we've chosen you" he leaned closer to his face "Congratulations"

Dick back away "We had security all around the circus that night told us so, how did you get past them"

William laughed "The supposed 'security' were the talons, Haley fooled you along with the rest of the adults including your family"

He gaped at him "Why would they do that. no they would never do something like that! Especially to their own son!"

"You stopped being their son to them that night! You were decided as property of the court at the moment we chose you! Your family signed you over to us and we were to decide when you would join us"

"Signed?"

William smirked " Without the protection and funding our court gives to the circus it would have died out years ago. Haley agreed that if we funded his circus he and every other adult would sign over any child we chose as the next talon!" he walked over to a cabinet next to the wall and pulled out a file then brought it back and dropped it on the floor in front of him "See for yourself"

Dick looked down at the documents. There was a small picture of him paper clipped to the folder and his birth certificate under it. There were a lot of papers in the folder but the one on the top was obviously a contact the word that stood out to him the most were:

Richard John Grayson, is hereby and forever know as the property of the court of owls.

He looked further down the paper to see very familiar signitures

I, Mary Lloyd Grayson, hereby give the custody of my son Richard john Grayson to the court of owls

I, John Grayson, hereby give the custody of my son Richard john Grayson to the court of owls

He was horrified to see that his parents had signed him over, him their own son, to the court of owls, assassins! "No! you did something to them, they would never to this to me!"

William shook his head and took back the folder "Silly boy they never really loved you" his eyes widened "you were just a child they had to train for the talons"

"That's not true!"

"Think about it child, they trained your acrobatics day and night to their peak, you were constituently told to study your academics, you were hardly aloud to eat sweets, and you always had to eat healthy meals!"

Dick flinched at the harsh tone "B-but they said that was normal for every child to do"

"You're a fool child! Do you really think companys would produce all these foods for them not to be eaten, do you really think all those dropout were genius's, and would every child in the world be trained!"

"B-Bu.."

"Get it through your head boy! They never cared about you and you shouldn't care about them! They sold you off and if they hadn't died you would have been taken anyway and they would continue on in their lives forgetting all about you!"

"I-I .." he stuttered 'how could they!'

William smirked at his dumbfounded face "This may be a shock to you but we are actually related"

Dick became shocked at looked for any similarities between them

"Yes I am your great-great grandfather on your father's side. You should be happy that there is some family that actually wants you now that you know your own parent didn't"

"That doesn't mean I want to be a killer!"

"Well get used to it boy! This is what has been decided for you and you will carry it out! If you don't like tough! Your parents and the entire circus made you our property so if you want anyone to blame, blame them!"

Dick looked down at the floor

"Welcome home child!"

oOo

Bruce had been up all night investigating into the symbol but hadn't found anything legit about it; Selina had offered to help by going out as catwoman to ask some of the criminals and villains about the symbol and was now waiting for her to get back.

"Master Bruce you should try and take a break I know you are worried about the boy but you won't be much good to him if you're not at your best" Alfred came up behind him

"It was more serious than I thought Alfred, I thought the people would be ordinary criminals but these people had highly advanced weapons and were trained fighters. Who knows what they could do to Richard now that they have him"

Alfred didn't try to persuade him again and went off to clean the cave

Bruce sat back in his chair to think 'These people have some sort of connection to the circus' he thought back to the circus and tried to think of anything that seemed out of place 'the children seemed to act pretty normal but the adults looked like they were hiding something' he decided that he should go and try to interrogate haley into telling him who they were that a way he could find them

Before he could get up he heard the batcycle come down the tunnel of the cave and then selina come up the pole to meet him "I found out what the symbol was"

"What?!" he was shocked

"Yes I was surprised too and you're not going to believe this but the symbol stands for the Court of Owls"

"The court of owls?!" bruce had heard about them but it was only a myth

"Yeah I was able to get two face to talk and he said that the court of owls was real it has been around for at least a century and I gave him an indication of why would a child be taken by them. He told me that every generation a child would be kidnapped in the middle of the night and trained to become one of their assassins"

"An assassin!" he was shocked to even think about it. He couldn't imagine a sweet, innocent, kind little boy become a cruel, merciless, unemotional killer

"He couldn't tell me where their base was because no one knows the talons only appear in the shadows and no one can ever tell they are there until it's too late"

Bruce became angry now he remembered how he had been trained by the league of assassins to become the fighter he was today but the league had also made a monster out of him before he managed to escape.

"What are we gonna do bruce?" selina was worried

"I'm going to talk to Haley!" he growled

"What?! Bruce you can't do that how would you explain batman knowing about this situation!"

"She is right sir, batman is only seen as the protector of gotham and he only deals with the most advanced cases. Richard is only seen as a missing person right now" Alfred added

"I don't care!" bruce jumped down to the batmobile and drove off

oOo

Haley had just finished watching the morning news in his trailer and was now pouring himself some coffee to think about what he had just heard

'I'm so sorry dick' he sighed as he thought back to the little flying grayson

He tried not to become too attached to the children of the circus but dick had this strong power to make any adult fall in love with his cute personality. He remembered how dick was always laughing and playing around with everyone at the circus, haley had never seen dick angry or sad before. He hoped William hadn't told him how he and even his parent gave them custody of him he couldn't imagine what dick would think of them if he ever found out.

He moved to the door to start his day when it has suddenly broken in half shocking him making him yelp before he was grabbed by the collar of his shirt and pushed against a wall. He opened his eyes to see it was batman that had him "W-what do want?"

"Information!" he growled

"Wh-what a-are you talking about?!" he had never thought he would be on the receiving end of batman's wrath

"Start with explaining your connection to the court of owls!"

Haley was shocked to hear that "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Don't you even try it! I've been investigating into the disappearance if Richard Grayson all night and I know he was taken by the court and you are going to give me answers!"

"Alright the court funds the circus!"

"What?" batman had to admit he was surprised

"The court of owls have funded our circus for generations but they gave us a price in order to have their protection every generation during a specific night we had to sign over a child they picked as an heir to them so they could continue their legacy!"

"Any you agreed! You agreed to hand over innocent children over to a group of assassins and cause more people to be killer by them in the future!"

Haley bowed his head in shame "I know it was wrong but I had to do something to keep the circus! We would have died out years ago if it wasn't for them! I don't like the price I swear but if that's what they want in return we have to give it to them!"

"How was Richard chosen by the court?!"

"During our last tour in America when we came to gotham it was time for them to pick their heir so we put on a show for the children to perform on their own while the court watched in the shadows and they chose dick that night!"

"Why would a parent do that to their own child?"

"The parent try not to become attached to their children until that night is over for this generation we just raise them and be kind to them as if we were strangers"

"Where is the boy?! Where is the base?!"

"I-I don't know! Honest! He flinched when batman gripped him harder "Our agreement only stated that they fund us and in exchange we give them a child they never said were their base was or where they took the children!"

"You were more worried about keeping your entertainment facility over the lives of innocent children"

He nodded in shame

Batman let him go and watched him slide down to the floor "You disgust me!" he growled "I hope Richard finds out the truth so he won't be fooled by a false image"

"What are you going to do?" haley asked

"I'm going to rescue Richard for one thing but too you nothing I want to make you live with regret to what you've done to these children!"

Without another word batman left leaving a frightened Haley sitting on the ground


	4. Training

Training

Richard had decided that he didn't care for his 'family' or the circus anymore. They were just a bunch of liars to him now fooling him for so many years into thinking they actually cared about him. Thanks to them he was no held prisoner in the court slowly being turned into a cold merciless killer

"Your first test will be to retrieve the shuriken at the top of that pole" William instructed him and he looked to the 30ft pole in front of them and embedded into it at the top was the shuriken

"That's impossible you would need a latter or something to get to the top" he cried

"No complaining boy get to it!"

He looked up and it as he walked toward it

"Hold on" William called and he turned to see him hand over two weights tied to some rope. He caught them and struggled to hold the weight "You will have to find a way to get to the top while using these"

He tied the weights around his wrists and began trying to climb up but fell back down to the ground. William looked down at him "Pathetic. You've got a lot to learn"

/time skip/

"Your next test will be to hit the target" William pointed to a bulls eyes on the wall opposite from them and handed Richard a shuriken

"But it's all the way over there how am I supposed to throw it that hard"

William took the shuriken from his hands and threw it to the target landing right on the bulls eye. "It's not impossible boy you will learn through training" he handed him another shuriken

He took it from him then tried his best to throw it with all his strength but it barely made it across the room

"I see you need the right motivation. Your punishment until you learn these basic techniques will be to stay up all night and train your abilities on your own. Talons will be on guard to make sure you don't sleep"

/time skip/

"I will demonstrate your next test" William placed a bucket of water on top of his head and grabbed an erisma stick "Men your job!"

Some talons came into the room and grabbed a few shurikens and began throwing them at William but he was able to deflect all of them while keeping the bucket on his head shocking Richard "Your turn"

He struggled to try and keep the bucket on his head moving around to keep its balance while holding the erisma stick biting his lip as he prepared for the shurikens. He yelped when they started coming at him and the bucket fell on top of his head spilling water on him and he used the erisma stick as a bat to knock one back but received cuts from the others

William stepped out of the way of the one shuriken before it hit and glared at Richard

/time skip/

The talons tested his water training next to see how long he could hold his breath but he couldn't hold it for longer than a minute. They tested his speed next by throwing weapons at him so he could dodge, he managed to evade most of them but one landed and hurt his leg. They trained his strength next by trying to make him cut a board in half, dick knew he couldn't do it but they forced him and he ended up hurting his hand as well

He was then put up against a talon to try and fight him, during the 'fight' he tried to evade the attacks but the talon easily hit him making him skid across the ground causing a black eye.

They made him carry a stick over his shoulders with weights on each side as he tried to walk but fell down from the weight. William made him train his abilities for nights without sleep

Richard decided he had, had enough of being pushed around by these men and vowed to work harder to at least pass the basics of his training. He tied the weights onto his arms and looked up at the shuriken on top of the pole then jumped up to grab hold of the pole but fell.

'I know it's possible they wouldn't make me do something that wasn't passable' He worked up until morning on this test and right before sun up he got an idea

He untied the weights from his wrists the brought them to the pole and swung them around the back making them knot in the back. He placed one foot on the pole and began walking up it using the weights to help keep his grip

Some talons came to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep and were shocked to see that he was already halfway up the pole. As more talons came to see what was going on they realized that Richard was a very fast learner.

When he almost made it to the top one of his feet slipped but he made his grip harder on the weights and pulled himself up to get his feet back in place

"What's going on here?" William called as he came in, a shuriken then landed at his feet and he looked up to see Richard was sitting on the top of the pole

He was quite surprised at the small amount of time it took him to learn how to get to the top

Richards basic training began improving from then on he was able to hit the targets every time. He was able to run with the weights on his back. In his fights with the talons he was able to land a few hits. He dodged each of the weapons that came at him, and was able to balance the bucket on his head.

"I see we didn't make a wrong choice after all" William smirked down at Richard "But the training only gets more difficult from here"

/time skip/

"You will learn to unleash your anger through physical means, and we will teach you to confront your enemies with your strength" William announced

William had wanted to see if Richard could handle the brute force of physical contact before he began the advanced training and he could see that the boy was angered each time he was hit but not knocked down. He had decided to start off with sword training

Richard had been brought out to a circle shaped training ground with water surrounding the floor of the ring. "We will teach you to engage in fight against multiple opponents. We will teach you to disappear to the point you become invisible"

He lifted an eyebrow as he swung around his sword "Invisible?"

William looked to him "Men!" and three talons jumped of the ceiling surrounding them

"A true assassin understands that the ability to disappear takes patience and agility"

/time skip/

Richard was now training his balance on poles he had to stand on a few feet off the ground as William watched from the bottom. They were testing to see if he could manage to stay on as talons attacked him from the four corners with their erisma sticks.

He had managed to stay on being hit every now and then and block some hits with his arms before they made contact. He almost fell when one managed to swipe him off his feat but back flipped with his hands to stay on and stood back up

William smirked up at him

/time skip/

Richard was getting more advanced at his sword training being able to keep up with the talons moves. He blocked a talons sword with his own as it came down

"Keep your eyes on your opponent" William called

A talon hit him from the side making him fall into the water

/time skip/

"You will learn to use explosives" William threw down an explosive pellet to Richard feet but he didn't even flinch

"As weapons?"

"And distractions, deception is a powerful agent in the time of battle, you must become more than just a boy to your opponent's. making them underestimate you because of your age" he handed him a pellet

And Richard took it throwing it down to the ground below him

/time skip/

Richard had just finished doing his underwater training. He was to learn to swim faster than any normal person could and hold his breath unbelievably long. He was called up to meet William and saw they were bringing in someone in a cage who was panicking

"Who is he?" he asked having a blank expression on his face

"He was a criminal murdered a few people in his time and was a prisoner"

"What are you going to do to him?"

"He murdered someone important to one of our clients and they have sentenced him to death, we are carrying out their wishes by bringing him here"

/time skip/

Richard was swinging his sword at his opponent almost hitting him one time if he hadn't ducked and moved away.

"Your parent thought of you as weak." William called from his watching place to anger him and it was successful

He growled in anger and ran at his opponent swinging it a few times, the talon blocked a swing coming at his head with his armored arm and pushed a glaring Richard back

"You must prove them otherwise"

The talon knocked the sword from his hands so he tried to land a few punches but still wasn't good enough and the man punched him in the stomach skidding him across the ground. Richard flipped to land back on his feet and ran back at the talon but the talon grabbed his arm when he tried to punch him and flipped him back onto the ground

"And you must start by controlling you anger it will get you killed"

The talon let him go and Richard flipped onto his feet. The talon came at him swinging his sword but he slid under it to avoid and grabbed his sword then blocked the next swing with it. He swept the talon off his feet and stood up placing the point of his sword to his neck

William smiled down at the talon in training

/time skip/

Richard was now taking a break between training sessions drinking some water and wiping sweat off his forehead with a towel

"You have grown stronger since you arrived Richard" he looked over to see William coming over to him

He turned back to his bottle "The training is doing its work"

"I know that the anger that drives you to become better is still in you. The impossible anger to the memories of your time at the circus poisoning your veins" he looked to see Richard gripping his towel and clenching his teeth "And you sometimes wish they had never existed, so you'd be spared from this life"

"I know there is no hope of escaping cobb" Richard told him

"Your anger gives your great strength, but if you let it control you, it will destroy you"

Richard looked away

oOo

The case of the missing Richard Grayson had been left cold. No one really cared about the missing boy since he was an outsider, especially since his family was dead and no one really knew about the adoption

The adoption had been put to a halt when he had disappeared, Ms. Russuel had claimed that Richard needed to be present for the court date and that obviously wasn't possible. Richard had now been missing for over two years and she didn't even think he was still alive

The case fell on batman alone, he felt like he was searching for a ghost though, all the tracks had been long since washed away but every now and then he would look at the belongs of the now 8 year old boy and get the motivation to bring him home

Selina had done her best to help by traveling around the world every now and then to look for clues on the court of talons or and sighting of them but found nothing

Alfred helped in anyway he could as well which wasn't much but at least something by going to different institutes and libraries to look up information on the court. He had also helped bruce and selina keep hope alive by encouraging them about how Richard would feel if he learned his last hope of freedom had given up as well

Bruce couldn't bear the thought of it so continued his searching. He sometimes imagined if Richards appearance had changed, if he had grown taller, if he still remember him and selina, or if he still cared.

He hoped that the talons hadn't trained the emotions out of him, hadn't become cold and ruthless. And if they had he swore he would make the talons pay for what they did and would help Richard heal.

The justice league had come by a few times as well because he hadn't been attending the meetings and they had been shocked to find catwoman in the cave. He had explained to them that she had changed and told them the reason behind his absences; they promised to help as well and were able to find talons every now and then but they always managed to escape before they could be interrogated

Although that did add to the proof that the talons did exist

"Bruce?!" he was shocked out of his thoughts and turned to see superman behind him

"How did you get in here without being announced?"

"I was announced" clark informed him "You must have been pretty lost in thought if you didn't"

"I was just thinking"

"I see" he looked up to the computer to see files about the court of owls 'bases' "Your still looking for the boy"

"Of course"

"Bruce I know your worried about him but your going to drive yourself nuts if you keep at it like this, it's been two years since he was taken, he could have very well died from the training for all you know"

"He's not dead!" he growled

"How would you know? I doubt the talons would give a funeral for a child"

"He was taken to be their heir, they wouldn't go through all that trouble to get to him if they were just going to kill him"

"Even if he is alive who knows if he even wants to be found"

"What!" selina yelled from her spot at the top of the stairs and both men looked up at her "How could you even say such a thing!"

"I mean the talons probably told him the truth about the circus and molded him into thinking that they're the only people that care for him"

"You didn't even know him so don't just assume things clark!" selina yelled

"I'm sorry alright! But I'm just trying to bring up possibilities"

"Well their wrong clark! Even if Richard has been molded into their ways he can be molded back I was able to and we will be able to do the same for him" bruce declared

"Right"

oOo

If Richard thought that being at the juvenile Detention center was a nightmare than being with the court of owls would have to be hell. He didn't get a proper room or bed, now that he was getting more advanced in his training the talons didn't trust him enough to leave him free to move abut in his 'room' he was chained by his wrists to one of the walls and by his ankles to the floor as if the collar wasn't enough.

He had to wake up each morning at 4am to eat breakfast that was nothing but a bunch of vegetables and other vegetarian like foods. He trained all day in both the mind and the body only being able to stop two times during training for 25 minutes to eat lunch and dinner. He had to go to sleep at 10pm sharp after washing up until he began the process again the next day.

"Would you believe that it had been over two years since you were brought here Richard" William looked down at the injured Richard

Richard didn't respond as he tried to catch his breath and was sweating hard. He began getting up getting to his knees and hands before sitting up to look at William

"After all this time you still have hope that someone will rescue you don't you?"

He looked away not wanting to admit it but even that hope had faded away a long time ago even if it did come back every now and then

"You really think there is someone out there that would give a damn about you. You were nothing but a pathetic little circus orphan to the world who would care about someone like that?"

Richard remembered bruce and selina had wanted to adopt him but he doubted they would look for him. If he really had been missing for over two years they would have given up a long time ago.

/time skip/

"It's time to administer the serum to you Richard" William told him as he walked to unlock the chains on him

"Serum?"

"Haven't you noticed that when the talons are injured they are able to recover quite quickly"

Richard had noticed this but he thought they were just fast healers or really stubborn people who still trained and fought even thought they were injured "Yes"

"And now that you are going to be a talon you will need to be injected with the same serum that is given to all talons so they can heal faster"

William took Richard from his room and took him to a lab part of the base then threw him down on what seemed like an examination table

He didn't expect some shackles to come out of the table and tie him down to the table by his wrists and ankles keeping him locked to the table "Wha-what are you doing!"

"Begin the process" William told a scientist

Richard hadn't gotten scared in a long time it had been beaten out of him a while after he arrived but when he saw a lid starting to come over the bed he was starting to panic until it completely sealed him in

He began struggling to try and get out of the shackles but he couldn't even budge

"Prepare the oxygen" he heard William order

An oxygen mask connected to a tube came out of the side of the lid and went over his nose and mouth and he began breathing in fresh air

"Administer the serum"

Three large syringes came out of both sides of the lid and rammed right into his skin making him yell out in pain. The sensation of the serum being pumped into him felt like he was on fire making him scream out in pain

oOo

Bruce woke up from a nightmare he had not even realizing he had fallen asleep in the first place. He felt like he could hear Richard screaming and hoped he could forget about the dream and think that it wasn't real anyway.

He somehow knew that Richard had to have screamed out in pain from something that was happening with the court, he didn't even want to think about what it could be just hoped that Richard could hold on until he could find him.

It was weird but both he and selina had been having nightmares about Richard being hurt or in pain by the court and had asked Martian manhunter and zatara if there was anything that could explain that.

They were shocked when Manhunter told them that because of the strong care that they had for Richard they were somehow able to connect to his own mind in their dreams about what he's been through. Bruce and selina were angry at the talons for what they had been putting Richard through, he didn't deserve that kind of life but it also gave them more confidence because now they knew Richard was alive.

Bruce asked zatara if he could perform a spell to find Richard but there had been two problems with it : for one he could pinpoint the exact location on where he was only that he was still in the gotham area. And that he could feel that something in Richard had changed from a normal human he couldn't explain it but he didn't feel pure-blooded anymore

"What does that even mean?" selina asked "Please tell me he didn't really become a cold blooded killer"

"No it has nothing to do with his personality" zatara explained

"Then what is it?" bruce asked

"I don't know how to explain this but it as if his blood has changed into something else he's still human but it feels as if he somehow got a meta ability"

"How is that even possible?"

"I would not know the talons must have done something to him to make him an even more perfect assassin for them"

oOo

It was now the final test for Richard to become a fully trained talon. Right now William was preparing him they were both dressed in talon armor and Richard was in a perfect posture

"You have traveled a long way Richard" William walked around him in a circle "You have been trained to your peak in every way possible: combat, weaponry, abilities. We have also taught your mind helping you become quite smart for your age and control your anger"

Richard didn't respond and continued his gaze forward

"I know you fear your new power and what you have become. You now have the ability to do great or terrible things. But now you must journey to become the best assassin there is" he stopped in front of him and looked him in the eye "You are ready?"

Richard looked up to him still having a blank face "Yes sir"

"Good. Now you must find the motivation to be the best you can be" Richard closed his eyes and let out slow deep breaths "Clear you mind" he opened his eyes "You must prove yourself worth to become a talon"

William moved back as talons flooded the room and they both put on their helmets.

Richard walked around the front of the talons looking for the right talon that was William "You have to be prepared for any strike at any moment. The talons moved to make a hall between them. "You must make it to the end assuring no one will attack"

He took out his sword from his back and held it up as he began walking down the hall keeping his eyes sharp on his opponents

Two of the talons moved out in front of them and began attacking him with their swords but he blocked them and pushed them away. The talons rolled over the ground as the other talons moved again to line themselves in separate rows. "Don't allow your emotions to cloud your senses"

He continued to move down the hall that was now a separation between two rows. One of the talons jumped out behind him but he was able to block his sword before then swing at him, the talon ducked a rolled away as the other talons moved again to form the hall.

He began walking through again "You must expect the unexpected" he made it to the end of the hall and walked to a box that was left at the end "Don't allow your emotions to show" he opened the lid of it and a large snake that seemed to fill the box jumped out to bite him but he grabbed its neck and squeezed the life out of it as it struggled to get free. He dropped it's body onto the floor and turned back to the talons

"Focus, concentrate. Put your senses to their peek"

He began walked toward them. A talon close to his height jumped out at him and they began fighting with their swords. Richard threw down a smoke pellet so it would be harder and the continued fighting one of them managing to cut the others arm as they flipped away from each other. They looked around for each other through the smoke and one of them looked down at their arm to realize the cut and while he was doing so a another talon came up to him from behind and put his sword in front of his neck and pushed him to his knees "You cannot leave any sign Richard!"

Another talon came up to them and place his own sword in front of his neck. He then took off the helmet revealing he had the wrong one "Found" he said

William smiled down at them revealing he had moved up to railing to watch and clapped as the talons looked up to him "Impressive"

Richard bowed in response

/time skip/

Richard was now being initiated to become a full fledged talon. William had the court of owls symbol in a fire on the end of a small pole

"You have passed your final test. You ate now ready to become a talon"

He had been changed out of his armor into a pair of black pants, but nothing else no shirt or even socks. They still didn't trust him enough to take off the collar because he hadn't been sent out on any missions or even left the base

William took the symbol out of the fire and he could see it was burning red-orange. He placed some ink on the symbol to cool it down a bit then walked over to Richard

He braced himself as best he could for what was about to happen. The next thing he knew it felt like his deltoid had been placed on fire and was melting. He growled as he clenched his teeth in pain. And once it was over some water had been dropped on him to cool off the burning sensation, the serum was already starting to do its work because he could feel the blood near his deltoid swimming around and a tingling feeling on his skin

"Welcome to the talons Richard"

He opened his eyes and stood up then looked over to a mirror to see the court's symbol burned with ink right onto his deltoid like a tattoo.

_To be continued_

**I know the training scenes might sound familiar because I wanted to show how richard's training was at first pathetic but as he progressed he became stronger. The scenes are from mulan's training and from Bruce's training in batman begins. I wouldn't know how assassins are taught so I just looked around for any type of beginners training.**

**I am open for suggestions from any of the viewers because this story was first just an idea I had and I was just planning to do a one-shot of the kidnapping but my cousin told me I should try making it into a story.**

**I told my cousin about the story and she said a good idea for after Richard is rescued is that his social worker finds out that he is not a US citizen and his visa expired so he will have to be deported but bruce gets his visa refreshed to adopt him**

**Looking to suggestion on the rescue for one because I'm still working on how that's even going to take place**


	5. Wrath of the talons

Wrath of the talons

Richard was fighting with another talon to be able to keep his skills at their peak. He made an x-shape with his arms above his head to block a punch then bent down and swept the man off his feet, the man caught himself with his hands and flipped back up

The man sent a punch at him but he grabbed the wrist and brought him forward a bit then used his foot to skip his making him lose his balance and elbowed him in the face knocking him to the ground. Richard jumped up then kneed him in the stomach knocking him out while he was still down and flipped away landing on his feet a few feet away

Some talons came to the man and took him out of the ring while another took his place and got into a fighting stance. Richard did as well and they were about to fight when

"Halt!" they turned to see William coming toward the mat so they bowed to him like they were always ordered to, to show him their respect "Richard come with me" he walked away heading to his office

He followed him without hesitation and once the door was closed behind them "Is there something you require from me sir?"

"Yes actually, I believe it is time that you start showing what you can do to the world"

He got a questionable look on his face "What do you mean sir?"

"I am going to start sending you out on a mission while two other talons will moniter"

He had to admit he was surprised by this and somewhat happy not for the killing but to be able to actually go outside after two years "I accept sir"

"Good, you will leave on your first mission tonight"

"What is the mission's purpose?"

"One of our clients called in a request. Some drug dealers have stolen their shipments and they have asked us to kill them and bring back their shipment"

"Where is this taking place?"

"At gotham's harbor, the dealers plan to send the shipments somewhere but you are to stop them"

"Alright sir"

"You are dismissed"

Richard bowed before he left the room. He had gotten a bit more freedom after he was initiated into the talons sure he still had to wear the collar but now he didn't have to be monitored every second of the day. He didn't have to be chained up when he went to sleep and he could now wake up a 6am instead of 4am. He got a cot similar to the one he had at JCD but it was a little firmer with a pillow but when he got punishments he would be moved to another room where he would be chained up even tighter to the point he had to sit up after a serious beating. He was able to have some decent meal every now and then if he was able to be good and he got breaks one in a while too.

Some training he received to help to prepare for missions he would be sent on he had to take easy steps by learning to kill animals without any hesitation like he had during his initiation, then to elderly or people who were dying anyway, but now was time for the real test.

That night he and two other talons got dressed in their armor and for the first time in so long he felt the breeze of fresh air upon his face. There were three motorcycles prepared for them so they could get there without a sound and at a very high speed

When they arrived they saw a few men taking crates from one trailer ( I can't find what those things at ports are called) to another. One of the older talon's motioned for him to move to the inside of the first trailer and attack the first person that came back to it

While he waited in the darkness of the trailer he saw one man come back whistling and as he reached for another crate he grabbed him by the collar shocking him and pulled him inside making him yelp before he cut his throat killing him.

He looked out to see two men had heard the man yell and while they were looking at each other and to the other men he slipped out. The two men began approaching the trailer as he hide on top of a crane;s large claw.

"Jack?" one of the men called for the other who had been killed. He looked back to his partner raising an eyebrow then looked back "Jack?!"

Richard used his gun and shot out the lights above the two frightening them a little. One of them grabbed a radio "Something weird's going on guys"

"What is it?"

"I don't know we heard jake scream and he's not answering, the lights have been shot out in this section by something"

"Find out what's going on!"

"Sir I think we need a little hel…." Richard shot the man in the head killing him as the other screamed and tried to run away but he ran after him throwing a shuriken at his head killing him.

A man close had heard the scream and ran as fast as he could to get to the main group. The main group had heard the scream as well and got their guns out. The lights had been shot out above them as well and the only light was from the moon. They heard the sound of rustling; one man saw a shadow move through the trailers and fired a few rounds at it. The man had almost reached the group but when he turned to get to them Richard jumped at him and pushed him into the shadows and killed him.

The group had heard the yelp he let out before he was taken and started looking around

"Let spread out! If you find this person kill him on sight!" the boss ordered and they all moved to walked through halls between the trailers

While a man was walking holding his gun up he heard footsteps on the top of the trailer next to him and fired a few rounds but then heard something behind him and aimed his gun as he turned around to look. He saw a shadow move between two trailers and fired some rounds again "Come out! Coward!"

"As you wish" He yelped and turned to see him before he was killed

"Let's regroup boys something isn't right here" the boss ordered and all the men obeyed and regrouped. They stayed on guard with their guns held up as they looked around for the person.

Richard grabbed his sword from his back and dropped down in between all of them and began killing them one by one as they tried to fight back but none of the bullets had any effect on his armor. The boss noticed his men were falling and ran to his car while they were still fighting.

He started the car but before he could drive off a shuriken landed on the hood of his car and caught fire when it exploded as another jammed the door. Once the fire reached the gas tank it exploded killing him as well.

Richard heard the sound of police sirens in the distance so he quickly turned to see that the other two talons had gotten the shipment back and quickly left

oOo

At wayne manor the couple was hosting a fundraiser for a charity they had put together to help find missing people. They felt that since Richard wasn't the only person missing in the world they should help bring all those people home as well and they had been receiving congratulations all night from the recent marriage license they had approved

While they were talking to each other about the night bruce felt a vibrating in his pocket and took out his portable batwave to see it was getting an alarm from the police again

Selina noticed this "Go I'll cover for you"

"Thanks selina" He quickly rushed out of the room and went to a hidden entrance to the batcave near the bedrooms and took the elevator down. He got dressed into his bat suit and jumped into the bat mobile rushing to gotham harbor

When he arrived there were a few police cars by the trailers and a fire truck, the place had been taped off. He walked past the tape and straight up to commissioner Gordon, he was standing by a few tarps that had been placed over some dead bodies

"What happened?"

"These were drug dealers we found out that they had stolen some drug shipments and were planning to send them away but tonight they and their boss were killed and the stolen shipment is gone"

"Who did this?"

"Were investigating into that put so far we haven't found anything concrete"

"I'll take a look for myself" He began walking around the perimeter of the scene noticing the burned up car where a few firemen were standing, bullet holes in some of the trailers, and the detectives doing their own investigation.

He felt sickened by the smell of blood in the air as he walked. He walked down one of the halls of the trailers to try and find any clues and came upon three more bodies that had been covered with tarps but he noticed through it that something was sticking up on one of the bodies. He didn't want to do this but knew it was part of his job so he uncovered the body to find a man had been bleeding from the back of his head but was shocked at what he found. He grabbed it and pulled it out of the man's head to get a closer look 'The court of owls' he looked straight at the symbol on one of the sides.

'Richard?' He didn't want to believe it so he came up with an excuse 'no e wouldn't be trained enough for something like this, he's only been gone for 2 ½ years' he decided that maybe some other talons had come and killed these men.

"Did you find anything batman?" Commissioner Gordon asked as he walked back

"Remember the case of Richard Grayson?"

Gordon was surprised by this, of course he remember the little boy that had disappeared 2 years ago, he tried to keep everyone motivated to find him but he was outvoted they had all decided that the boy had been killed and his body had been disposed of "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"The weapon that I found near his cell that night, I found another exactly like it tonight it was used to kill one of the men"

"So you think the same people that kidnapped Richard killed all these men tonight?"

"Yes I did a bit of research on them and found out they were a bunch of assassins so someone must have hired them to come and kill these men and take the shipment"

"That would make sense"

"I am going to look into this to find out who could have hired them"

"Alright thank you"

oOo

"Excellent job Richard" William praised as he looked down at the bowing boy

"Thank you sir"

"Now all you need is a few more months of this until the collar comes off. Our client is most pleased with you and would like me to arrange for all his requests to be sent right to you"

"That decision is not my own, it is yours, I am here to serve you not the clients"

"I'm glad you see it that way and I have accepted this request so you could get more experience by traveling all across the country on missions"

Richard's expression remained as blank as ever "I will work harder to meet your expectations as you have asked and with the training I receive here at the court"

"Good, you are dismissed"

Richard bowed and left heading straight for the showers there was still some blood on him from the men and he did not like the feeling of it coating his own skin. He knew what he had done tonight was wrong but he didn't have much of a choice if he did not comply to Williams wishes he would be beaten to the point of death and then the serum running through his veins would work so hard to heal him that it would make his insides sting like the so many times before

oOo

"You find anything?" selina asked

"No" bruce admitted sadly, he had been looking through the shuriken for an sort of finger prints on it that could help him identify if the person tonight was Richard or not. He was happy in way because now he wouldn't be able to know.

As if reading his mind "It was most likely some older talons that had been sent out tonight, it took both of over 5 years to become the fighters we are today and Richard's only had 2 he couldn't be skilled enough to do something like that yet"

"I just have a strong feeling that's telling me he was there tonight….Probably just bad thinking from all those premonitions I had of him killing others"

"Right"

"This is the first time the talons have appeared in gotham since he was taken thought. What could that mean? I know from the justice league's reports that they've appeared a few times in each of their cities but never here"

"Well remember zatara told us that he could at least pinpoint that Richard was still in gotham so maybe the talons are taking him out to teach him how to kill now…and that could have been why you felt he was there tonight he must have had to watch those men be killed"

"Yeah, that's probably it"

oOo

A few days later while Richard was still sleeping he heard the sound of the door to his room be opened so he sat up to see who it was, he was surprised to see it was just a regular talon

"Master William wishes to see you" He left the door open and walked away

He was surprised that William wanted to see him, William only ever wanted to see him for the progress of his training or for a punishment and he could tell it was still before 6am so what could he want. He quickly put on a shirt since he hadn't been wearing one with his trousers then a pair of shoes

He walked out of the door and straight to Williams office announced he was there through the intercom and went in when the light turned green.

"You wished to see me sir?" Richard bowed

"Yes, good thing you got here so soon" He looked up to see William was standing in front of his desk with Lex luthor surprising him a little but he didn't let it show

"So this is the young boy who killed all those men at the harbor a few days ago?" luthor looked him over

"Yes this is Richard, he has been with us for over two years now and has exceeded in his training to become a member of the talons"

"I'm not often impressed but I have to say this boy has skill. Where ever did you find such a talented young boy?"

"Oh it's quite a long story. You see a century ago the talons made a deal with a known circus that we would provide protection and funding in exchange every generation they would hand over a child that we could train to carry on our legacy"

"And I take it this boy is the one you picked for this generation?"

"Yes and it was an excellent choice, all the children before him took more than 6 years to perfect our techniques and he's accomplished this in 2 years"

Richard stood quite as they talked about his past as he held his anger inside, whenever someone mentioned the circus or the Grayson's to him he would explode in anger and try to kill that person which resulted in his punishments.

"I have a personal favor to ask of you talons" luthor brought up

"With the right pay we would be more than willing to accomplish anything you ask"

"You see I am a member of a special organization of other 'villains' and I've been trying to think of a good way to defeat superman so one of these members brought up the idea of making a copy of him to kill him and replace him"

"That is an outstanding idea but how do the talons fit into all this?"

Richard had heard of superman since his day at the circus he was his favorite superhero because he was able to fly, and he had super strength. He already knew he was going to be sent on this mission as well and felt horrible at what he was going to have to do to him.

"This member need a sample of superman's DNA and non of the assassin's I have hired such as Cheshire and sportsmaster have been able to get the job done so I thought I would ask some more professional's to get the job done for me"

"How many talons would you like sent on this mission? The price depends on the number of talons"

"I would like the best you have and only the top 4. I will personally provide you with weapons that are effective on him"

"Alright the price will be 40,000"

"That is no problem at all I am one of the richest men in the world"

"Good. How soon would you like this job done?"

"I would like it done within the next week"

"That is reasonable"

oOo

"What did you need batman?"

Bruce had called for all the justice league members to report to the watchtower so that he could tell them about the court of talons sudden appearance in Gotham

"A few days ago there was a large case of murder at the gotham harbor. Over 15 men were killed"

"Why are you telling us this I mean you don't like us interfering in your city so how are we supposed to help find the person who did this?" flash asked

"I called you here because the murders were committed by the court of owls"

This shocked most of the league members they knew how obsessed bruce had been about finding the court's base in order to find the little boy named Richard that had been taken by them.

"What are you going to do?" green arrow asked

"I believe that the talons are going to come out more than they used to" he sighed "I think that the murders last night were committed by Richard"

Green lanterns eyes widened "What?! How would you be able to figure that out?"

"Selina was able to convince me otherwise but I still had a strong feeling about it so I hacked into the security footage of the harbor from that night and even thought it wasn't very clear I could make out that the talon was a child"

Black canary looked down "Bruce he's a murderer now. I know you want to save him but what if he doesn't want to be saved anymore?"

"You didn't know him like I did I know he doesn't want this life"

"How are you supposed to save him even if that was him at the harbor he's probably long gone by now"

"That's one of the reason's I called you all here. If any of you come across a child talon I need your help to bring him in or at least identify him as Richard"

"How are we supposed to identify him we've never even see the kid" superman asked

Batman turned around to the computer and typed in a few commands then the league saw a picture of a young boy with black hair, cerulean blue eyes, a sharp nose, and olive toned skin.

"This was Richard the last time I saw him even though it's been two years I doubt he would have aged much so if you come across the talon try and identify him"

_To be continued _

**Writer's block. This was just a write it down as it comes to mind chapter and I thought it was a good idea to have one of the other justice leaguers find Richard before Bruce was able to so that he could be even more shocked. I picked superman because he had x-ray vision and he would be able to see right through Richard's helmet. **

**I don't know if the court of talon's uses guns but I looked it up but I couldn't find out so I thought well it's a fanfiction I can change around anything I want so even if they don't I can make them in the story.**

**I feel like I'm rushing the story a bit but I'm trying to get to the rescue but I still haven't figured out how that's gonna play out. I have thought of a few ideas such as William betraying Richard and leaving him to die in the base after he failed on a mission, William is beating Richard for a punishment and the justice league breaks in for the rescue, or something else I'm still thinking but I'm still open for suggestions**


	6. Superman and Flash

Superman and flash

Richard's guess was right. He had been one of the four chosen to retrieve superman's dna in order for luthor to start this copy process. He was now on one knee with three other talons getting the plan from William.

"You will need to lure superman out of metropolis, so luthor and I devised a plan for you to kidnap Lois lane from the daily planet and to take her to a warehouse. When she doesn't show up to work the next morning I'm sure he will get suspicious and investigate, you will leave a note in her apartment for him to find and the address for the warehouse on it"

The four talons nodded in acknowledgement.

"Steven and Mathew you two will perform the kidnapping itself while Richard and Lucas will wait for you at the warehouse. I want Richard to be the one to retrieve the dna sample from superman while the rest of you will attack him with these" He threw three weapons at the others, two of the were to block sunlight and the other was a kryptonite ray.

"Richard with your acrobatics you should be able to get a sample while he is down. You will hide in the shadows for the beginning but one he's down I want you to attack"

"Yes sir" he nodded

"Good move out"

The Four talons moved to get into the helicopter that would take them to metropolis and it took off

oOo

The talons arrived in metropolis at around 10:00pm. The followed their leader's orders as they were told, Richard and Lucas would wait at the warehouse while Steven and Mathew would kidnap Lois.

They used their grappling hooks to jump onto the balcony of her apartment. Steven used a glass cutter to make a circle near the lock and popped it out. He reached in and unlocked it and they walked in heading straight for the bedroom.

Lois was a very light sleeper so when she heard the sound of her balcony door opening she quickly grabbed the bat under her bed and began walking toward the door. She screamed when it was kicked open revealing the talons, she swung her bat at them but it cracked from the armor they were wearing. She dropped it and began to step backwards

"Wh-what do you guys want?"

"We are merely using you as a tool" Steven answered

"Wh-what?!"

Mathew hit her behind the head making her fall to the ground unconscious then picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "We need to get going"

"Right"

oOo

Richard was sitting on the stop of a large stack of crates one of his legs was dangling down while the other was curled up to stand to the crate. He had his elbow on his knee and his han on his cheek waiting for the others to get there.

He got an itch on his neck and reached under his helmet to scratch it when his collar turned on and he was shocked making him growl in pain. He had been shocked enough times now to get used to the pain and once it was over he looked down at Lucas glaring

"What was the purpose of that?"

"The same purpose as always kid. Don't even try to take that off it won't without the key"

He rolled his eyes "I was not attempting to, I was merely reaching to scratch"

"Excuses boy"

He was about to retort when they heard the door to the warehouse open and saw their fellow talons carrying Lois over one of their shoulders "We have retrieved the woman"

"I can see that Mathew" Lucas took her in his arms then brought her over to a chair and tied her arms, legs, and wrists to it. Then put some duck tape over her mouth.

"Is all that really necessary?" Richard asked

"It is not up for debate you are only here to get the sample so stay quite" Steven looked up at him

Richard nodded and laid back on the crates to with his arms behind his head. He knew he would have to stay up all night to wait for superman to arrive but he had done that enough times too so it wasn't much of an issue. He closed his eyes to rest up a bit and before he realized it he fell asleep

"Master William we retrieved the woman Lois a few hours ago and we are now waiting at the warehouse" He woke up from the sound of William's name and looked to see Lucas had called him on the communicator

"Good. It is now 6am" William responded

He was shocked that he had fallen asleep for 7 hours, why would the others let him do that surely if they saw him sleeping they would have shocked him to wake up but he guessed he didn't make a sound when he was asleep

"The daily planet should be opening in less than an hour be ready"

"Yes sir"

"Get into your positions everyone!" Lucas yelled

Steven and Mathew walked to their positions on each side of Lois who was now awake but couldn't talk because of the tape. And he flipped backward to wait in the shadows in behind the crates

oOo

"Good morning marline" Clark greeted his fellow reporter

"Oh good morning clark how is your day so far?" she asked

"I've been good is everyone here yet?"

"Almost everyone…it seems lois still isn't in yet"

"Lois?"

"Yes I know she's usually the first one here but she late today"

Clark got a bad feeling in his stomach "Well maybe I should go back home and look for her to make sure she's alright seeing as we live in the same building"

"Thank you clark I was getting a little worried"

Clark nodded and headed in the direction of the elevator until he turned to an empty conference room and changed into his superman personal then flew out the window at his top speed arriving at lois's apartment in just a few seconds

He knew right away something had happened to her seeing the glass door had been broken into and opened from the inside. He went through it to investigate heading to the bedroom and saw a broken bat on the floor 'Someone took her!' he was enraged

He looked over to see a note on the dresser next to the bed and picked it up. He read through it and saw that the people were after him and had taken Lois as bait, 'why is she a target to get to me?' He rushed straight to the address finding a old warehouse and burst straight through the roof

oOo

Richard was surprised to see superman burst through the roof enraged but then he was surprised to see superman was shocked as well

"Wow that was quick" Lucas checked his nonexistent watch

Clark was surprised to see the talons but looked to see lois tied to the chair "Let her go!"

"She's all yours she was only a tool in this anyway" Steven untied her and ripped the tape from her mouth

"Ow!" She yelled at him

"Go!" Mathew pushed her away and she ran over to superman

"Thank you for coming"

"It was no problem just get out of here" she nodded and ran out of the door, superman turned back to the three talons

"Now what would the court of talons want with me?"

Lucas was shocked he knew who they were "How do you know about us?"

"I've known about you for two years now I've been helping a friend of mine look for something important you took from him"

Richard was confused by this in the last two years he had been with the talons he never heard of them interfering with the justice league up until now so what could they have taken from this friend of his?

"I see well that is none of our concern" The talons got out their weapons and Steven and Mathew fired their rays first to block the sun radiation to superman making him get a little weaker

Richard twitched when he saw superman groan in pain from the lack of sun.

"Don't worry boy scout it'll be over soon" Lucas got out his kryptonite ray and fired it at superman sending him back a little

Superman became angry and mustered up all his strength to send his heat vision out at the weapons sending the kryptonite ray flying and breaking as well as one of the sun rays but the other was knocked out of their hands and skidded over to where Richard was hiding

He acted on instinct when he saw superman come to destroy that weapon to and jumped out to grab the weapon before he could then aimed it at the hero.

"Good job boy the master will be pleased" Lucas smirked

Superman was shocked to see that the child talon was here as well and aiming a weapon at him. He quickly did a quick x-ray scan to look under the helmet and wasn't took surprised it was a slightly aged Richard Grayson, batman had been right

"Richard?!"

His eyes widened when he heard his name be called by the hero and lower the weapon a little while he was in shock. The other three talons were in shock as well looked at each other to the boy and to the hero

"Richard Grayson right?!" He came a little closer to the boy

Richard growled at the sound of the word 'Grayson' and fired the weapon at him sending him back to the floor "I am not one of those liars!" he yelled and fired again

The other talons smirked at the boy's enraged form and decided to help get the sample

The two came up behind superman and made him sit up and another came up to Richard and took the weapon "Get the sample"

He nodded and took out a shuriken and ran at superman. Superman got up and send the two talons that had him flying in both directions and was about to stop Richard when he flipped over him and cut a few strands of his hair off into a test tube

He put his hand on his head and turned to Richard "What did you do?"

"That is classified!"

Superman rushed to grab him but he jumped up and then jumped off his back right back to the to the other three talons

"We'll be going now" Lucas smirked and reached for something in his belt

"Wait richard!" superman got his attention "There are people looking for you!"

He straightened at the comment and his eyes widened a little

"They have been obsessed with finding you since you disappeared from the Juvenile detention Center come with me and you can be free from the talons"

Richard thought for a moment but who could possibly be looking for him for all this time that could have known superman 'no it's probably a trap to arrest me'

"No I won't believe that other's actually care about me!"

Lucas smirked and threw down a couple of smoke bombs and once it cleared the talons were gone

Superman knew what he had to do. He reached up to his communicator "Batman I have some shocking news to tell you"

oOo

Richard handed the test tube over to William after he and the other talons bowed to him

"Excellent job talons"

The talons nodded in thanks and stood up

"Were there an complications in retrieving the sample?" William asked

"No, but there was something superman said that shocked us all" Mathew smirked

"Oh?"

"Yes apparently he knew the boy's name" Steven motions to Richard who looked away

William became angry "You told him your name?!"

"No sir I do not know how he was able to acquire that information" He shook his head

"But he did respond to the name sir" Lucas smirked

"You know what this means boy"

Richard closed his eyes and internally sighed

oOo

"You saw him?!" selina yelled

"Yes he was with some other talons that kidnapped Lois to get to me"

"What would the talons want with you?"

"Richard cut a few strands of my hair off but I don't know what they would want with that and they had weapons that can weaken me"

"Where are they maybe I can trace where they came from" batman asked

"They took one with them but I brought one of them to you just for that" he brought out one of the sun rays

"Thank you did Richard say anything to you?"

"He became angry when I said his last name and fired that ray at me two times and when I said that people were looking for him he said he didn't believe other people actually cared about him"

"They must have told him about the agreement with the circus" selina looked down "He thinks that the court is the only people that want him"

"Don't worry we'll save him we just have to find him first"

oOo

William had finished doing his research on how superman could have known richard's name and finally got enough to know what was going on so headed to where Richard currently was

He walked down to the dungeons and opened one of the cells to see Richard. He appeared to be unconscious since his head was hanging down and was wearing a black T-shirt and pants that had a few slashes in them; his wrists were bound to the wall behind him in shackles and his ankles were bound right to the floor beneath them. There was a bit of blood on the old blanket he was sitting on.

He walked up to him and held up a tablet to his face "You have a fanclub"

Richard was awake, he lifted up his face to reveal he was bleeding from a wound on the side of his head, a few bruises, and a split lip but they were healing because of the serum it had been much worse before. He looked to see some files and a few videos of justice leaguers fighting talons

"I interviewed some of the talons during your punishment; apparently they had been interrogated by the justice league over the past two years asking about you"

Richard closed his eyes and let his head hang again

"But don't start hoping you'll get your old life back now you know that the talons never give anything back"

"I know I am bound to the talons William, you would rather kill me then let the justice league save me"

"You have been trained well" He turned to leave and when he was at the door Richard spoke up again

"Even if you do kill me I also know that it will be followed by the justice league killing you"

William looked over his shoulder at him "I would have fled by the time they found you body" and closed the door leaving him in the darkness

Richard looked down to one of his legs that he had gotten a large gash in and saw it had been reduced to a cut. He sighed and let his head hang again

'Why would the justice league be searching for me?' he was so confused by this he wasn't even a citizen of the united states for one thing, He was just an orphan for another, and he wasn't even that famous in the circus. He was taken from gotham's juv…'Wait!' he remembered that gotham had a protector just like metropolis did he had heard a few inmates talking about him at the center 'What was his name…Bat…something…Batman! That's it!' but that still wasn't enough to explain though why would he bother to look for him he had millions of other people to protect he couldn't have searched for him all this time for nothing 'If he was the one superman was talking about what would he want with me' he was just a simple orphan two years ago and he had searched for him right there

'I guess I'll never find out' he sighed

oOo

Batman had found out the talons had gotten their weapons from lex corp. and because luthor was superman's arch enemy he would have sent someone to attack him but why for hair? He had concluded that he must have been getting a Dna sample but for what? So he and superman burst into his office where he was sitting quietly at his desk

"You could know like civilized people you know"

"What was the Dna for luthor?!" superman yelled

"Excuse me?" luthor smirked and raised an eyebrow

"You know what we're talking about luthor. You sent the talons after superman to retrieve a Dna sample so what is it for?!"

"Oh that is strictly confidential. I am surprised though I only asked of this task to them about two days ago and it's already done they are professionals after all"

"Where is the dna sample luthor?!" superman yelled

"It is most likely with the talons right now I haven't received any calls to inform me they have the sample so I will have to just go back to their base and get it myself"

"Where is their base?!" Batman grabbed him by the collar and brought him up to his face

"Oh batman you're supposed to be the World's Greatest Deteactive and you can't even find something that is right under your nose" Luthor laughed

Batman growled as superman placed a hand on his shoulder then turned to luthor "The talons kidnapped a boy about 2 years ago and he was on the mission for the sample. We've been searching for him since he disappeared"

"That's a big commitment to make I would have given up by now. You are quite persistant"

"Tell us where the base is!" batman yelled

"I'm not a tattle-tale bats you'll have to find the boy on your own but I'll give you a hint to make it more fun the base of the court of owls is quite large but it's also in ruins"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" superman yelled

"Let the detective figure it out he does deal with the riddler on a regular basis, now I called for security quite some time ago so if I were…." Luthor looked up to see they were both gone

oOo

Luthor had traveled back to the base of the court of owls to get the sample of the dna, he called ahead to make sure William would have it ready.

"Here is the sample luthor" William handed him the test tube

"Thank you William" He took it and shook his hand "I heard that you are starting to have problems with the justice leaguers"

William growled "Yes it appears the boy has caught their attention"

"Yes I heard but may I make a suggestion…why not send the boy to the cities each of the leaguers to have a little fun with them make them annoyed to have the boy be so close yet so far from their grasp"

He smirked at the idea "Why not I'd love to see their faces at the sight of it"

And he did just as luthor suggested once Richard was fully recovered from his punishment he decided to send him on a mission to central city home of the flash.

"May I ask what I am supposed to achieve on this mission sir?" Richard asked

"There is a client of ours that would like to have a very informative computer chip at a company in the city so your job is to steal it and bring it back. You are ordered to kill anyone who get's in your way"

"Forgive me sir but if the possibility that flash should arrive I do not think I have enough skill to defeat him"

"Don't worry about him you will be taking these with you" William handed him a few pellets and he took them filling up an entire pouch on his belt

"What are these sir?"

"They are going to be useful if you happen to run into flash it will make sure he sticks to any place you fire"

He nodded "Alright"

"Good the helicopter is here to take you to central city go"

oOo

Richard was able to hack the security system of the company after landing on the roof from an outdoor panel. He went through a vent to get inside the building and came to see his abjective floating in the middle of a spot light but there was a force field guarding it so he had to device another plan.

He went through some more vents and then quietly came into an empty hallway close to the door to the room of the chip. He saw there was two officers guarding the door so he used his hacking to set off an alarm inside the room

"Who could have set off an alarm in there?!" one yelled

"I don't know but hurry and get the door open!"

They both prepared their pistols and one opened the door with his swipe card and they ran in holding up their guns "Freeze!" they noticed no one was in the room and looked to each other raising an eyebrow

Richard shot them both killing them from behind and walked into the room stepping over them and grabbed the chip then placed it in his belt. "Freeze!" he turned to see a few security guard had run to the room from the sound of the alarm

He threw down a smoke pellet as the security guards began shooting and even though they wouldn't affect him he easily dodged the bullets using his acrobatics to. He pulled out a knife and sneaked up to a few guard killing them with them and his gun to kill the others.

Once the smoke dissipated he was now in a room of 10 or so dead security guards. He left the room heading straight for the roof to get to the vantage point the helicopter told him to meet but once he made it to the roof flash finally showed up.

"How it right there kid!" Richard didn't respond he had learned his lesson from the superman mission "Give back whatever you stole, don't make this any harder than it has to be"

Richard took out his gun and began shooting at flash but he was able to avoid all of them with his speed then ran up and took the gun from him and vibrated it apart "Look I know who you are and I want to help you so why don't you just turn yourself in"

"I am aware you know my identity I caused me quite the beating because of the kryptonian"

"If you had just gone with him that wouldn't have happened you could have been free now here's another chance"

"No, I will not fall for these lies again!" Richard took out some shurikens and threw them at flash and when he dodged them he landed a punch at his face sending him to the ground then shot him with his other gun in the leg

Flash growled in pain but was able to stand up "Look I know about your past and not everyone is like that you know you think the entire world is filled with liars and thieves the world would have been destroyed a long time ago if it was like that!"

"I know that is what the court has done for me, give me a home"

"That's not the kind of life a child should have, do you really like killing and stealing as a life!"

"It is the people the court has sentenced to death I am merely following orders"

"Kid listen to yourself! The court kidnapped you and turned you into a killer would you have thought those things two years ago?!"

Richard flinched and looked away

"See! you don't have to live like this you can come with me and tell us where the court's base is and we can get rid of them"

His head snapped up "Oh so that was your objective?! You were merely seeking the location of the base! You had me falling for it again!" He finally threw down the sticky pellets sticking the flash to the ground and ran off

_To be continued_

**I'm running out of ideas for chapters to make before the rescue so I could use some help unless you want it to be the next chapter! And can you review about what you think of the visa idea I got more info from my mom on how they are going to solve that and I really want to use it.**

**Richard is going to go into a depressive like state when William betrays him because of the things he said in this chapter about the court**

**Please review!**


	7. Anniversary

Anniversary

The talons didn't even have to look at a calendar on this particular day. They would always know the date from Richard's behavior on this particular day. And this day was the very day two years ago that he was taken in by the talons

When the day grew near Richard would have a very short temper with the other talons during training not wasting anytime to knock them out or throw them out of the ring. He would go into overdrive pushing himself to his limits until he collapsed in exhaustion.

But on the exact day though he would practically try to kill his opponent during training and when someone tried to restrain him he would beat them down in rage. It usually took William to calm him down but there was no punishment because for some reason William enjoyed seeing him in such rage so he would just give him some space that day to train on his own.

Right now he was beating a punching bag to its wit's end. He would normally like to be doing something that involved being in the air but right now he had to get his anger out and that meant he wanted to beat something up. He didn't like being so angry during this day but he just remembered how he found out his so called family and friends lied to him all those years tricking him into doing what they asked being the perfect son they could ask for and this is what he got in return! !

He delivered a powerful kick to the punching bag making it finally rip in two as the sand poured out onto the floor. He just wished they were alive sometimes so he could get back at them for doing this to him but tony zucco took that chance from him too. He turned around and punched the wall behind him making a small crater a little larger than his fist in it gritting his teeth in frustration, he walked over to the mats and began doing some basic exercises

He hadn't been lying to the league when he said he didn't trust that anyone other than the court could possibly care for him, he had learned that the only way someone would want him if there was something in it for them. The circus only wanted him as a gift to the court, the court only wanted him as an assassin, but what would a group of world famous superheroes want with an assassin other than to send him to jail.

'I can't believe I almost fell for it' he gritted his teeth at the memory of his fight with flash 'That was their motive all along huh? To use me to get to the court!'

His thoughts traveled back to the circus and he remembered that none of the children had known about the agreement with the court of owls. He remembered his old friend Miranda the last time he had seen her was the night of the murder and wondered how she was doing after all this time if she even remembered him if the adults still kept themselves at a distance from their children.

'I wish there was a way I could at least see her again' he sighed she had been the only one who he thought had really cared for him since she had no idea this was going to happen anymore than he did and they were great friends but he knew the court wouldn't allow that. Then there was zitka his favorite elephant at the circus he wondered if she remembered him too being an animal she was probably oblivious to what had happened. He had once gotten a stuffed elephant as a mini-zitka and he had taken it with him in his suitcases but he was sure they would have thrown his stuff away by now.

"Have you had enough time to exert your anger?"

His head shot up to the door where William was standing "I would prefer to be alone but I know I cannot ask that of my master" that's something else he hated he had to speak so formally now that he had more or less forgotten how to speak like a normal kid

"Yes I know that was what you were trained for, to follow my orders"

"Is there something in particular you came to see me for sir?"

"I am going to offer you a very generous opportunity today"

He lifted an eyebrow and stared at William 'When had the court ever been generous to anyone?'

"I felt that for this generation of the talons selected heir you will have the chance to show the circus what you have learned from us"

His eyes widened at this "What?!"

"I believe that Haley's circus has come back to America after going back to Europe on a tour but they have been having some problems with gangs again. Since it is part of our deal to provide protection we are going to be sending some talons to take these gang members out"

He growled "Forgive me sir but I would rather not protect the very people who betrayed me"

"Don't you want to show Haley what you have learned make him get scared at the sight of a talon"

He thought for a moment "I do not think I will be able to control my anger any more than I can at the mention of their names so how would you know I would not take the chance to kill Haley?"

"Because there will be other talons there to make sure you behave and there is also the collar if you make even the slightest move to kill anyone other than the gang members you will be shocked"

He sighed "When is the departure?"

"You will be leaving in just a few hours so make sure you're at your best" William turned and left

oOo

The talons had gotten the current location of Haley's circus and had gotten into their plane to take them from Gotham to Atlanta, Georgia. As always the talons only appeared at night when they could stay in the shadows until they were ready to strike, It had been around 11:00pm at night so everyone was fast asleep. They had gotten word that the gang was going to try and rob the circus of their money.

Richard felt a wave of memories coming back into his mind from his time at the circus looking around at the familiar scene. The talons had decided to wait in the rafters of the circus tent to be able to stay in the darkness, He looked over to the trapeze 'They have recruited new acrobats as well' it took all his strength not to go over to Haley's trailer and beat life out of him

"So boss where should we start looking for that money?"

He and the talons heard someone say and they looked down to see a group of thugs coming inside the tent. "We should try by looking in the registers of the ticket booths first and then find the ringmaster so he can tell us where the safe is"

"Good thinking"

"Now spread out"

The thugs moved to the ticket booths that had been moved inside and picked the locks of the doors before going in with their crowbars and some other thugs moved to head over to Haley's trailer

The talons finally moved into action jumping down from the rafters, some headed over to the thugs in the ticket booths while some others went after the thugs headed for Haley.

"Come with us!" A talon told him to go with them to haley's so he obeyed and he was kind of glad that a way he could actually feel the pleasure of seeing his frightened face.

"Who are you people!" A thug cried out as the talons attacked the thugs beating them left and right also killing them before they even had the chance to scream as to not wake the circus members up

While Richard was fighting one thug he noticed another one had managed to get into Haley's trailer so quickly grabbed his sword and slashed the man killing him instantly then ran over to the trailer to see

"What do you want?!" Haley yelled

"Tell me where the money safe is old man! That's the only thing we're here for !"

"We don't have a safe!"

"Liar you better spill if you don't want me to kill you!" The man brought out a small pistol and faced it toward haley's face

"I-I alright we have a large safe but it's in another trailer"

"Which one and what's the combo!"

"I-It-it's…"

"Release him!" Richard finally stepped into the light of the trailer making the two men turn to him and he took out his gun from his hip and pointed it at the man "I do not like repeating myself"

The man growled and grabbed Haley putting his arm around his neck and pointing the pistol to his head "You even think about shooting and he dies!"

Richard narrowed his eyes and stared at the man but didn't drop his gun

The man smirked "Now what's a kid like you doing with a gun anyway you're way to young to actually be able to shoot that thing"

"Do not make assumptions about me from my age"

"Maybe you're one of the kids who like to get into the rougher crowds at a young age why don't you take off that helmet to see if I recognize you"

Haley was pretty surprised by that order he knew talons didn't reveal their identity unless they hoped to gain something from it and he doubted this talon had anything to gain by this.

Richard didn't move from his position "Take off the helmet of the geezer dies!" He glared at the man but moved one of his hands to the bottom of his helmet and began lifting it off

The man and Haley waited in anticipation until he threw the helmet down on the ground shocking them both. The man was shocked because he was surprised at how young the kid was and he didn't recognize him, and Haley was shocked because it was dick, He looked a lot different but he could still tell it was him 'maybe they didn't tell him about the agreement' he hoped

"Now release the man!" Richard yelled

"Not gonna happen kid unless you and your buddies leave"

Richard raised his gun at the man making him get on the defense again holding Haley a lot harder "Don't even think about it kid you can't do anything as long as I have him as a hostage"

He narrowed his eyes and looked to Haley then out of the blue he shot Haley in the leg making him yelp and fall to the ground as the man released him. The man was shocked at this and turned to the boy "You no longer have the protection of a hostage"

Richard rushed forward at the man replacing the gun with his sword and slashing the man killing him as he fell to the floor of Haley's trailer.

Haley was shocked that dick had shot him, he thought of him as his grandfather so why would he do that. He looked down at the wound and saw it wasn't bleeding too bad so turned to dick that still had his back turned "Dick?" he reached out to him

He glared at Haley and slapped his hand away "You're are fortunate that I did not kill you haley I know the right places to shot and I made sure not to hit any of the vital spots" he growled and moved back to his helmet and placed it back on

"Dick wait what have they…."

"They told me the truth!" He yelled making Haley flinch "I saw the contract the Grayson's made with the court to sign custody of me over to them"

"Dick you're parents…"

"And they are not my parents! They never really thought of me as their son so I do not think of them as my family, the only reason your still alive is because William made certain precautions that I would not"

"Dick I'm sorry but…"

"And you can stop calling me by such a ridiculous name! I only came because I was ordered to and we have finished our mission" He looked out the window to see that the talons were preparing to leave "I never want to see this place again for as long as I live!"

He glared and left the trailer before he really got angry and walked over to the talons

"I protected the ringmaster from dying are we preparing for departure?" he asked

"Yes the plane is back and we are to meet it at the vantage point"

He nodded and followed the talons out f the circus

oOo

When they had gotten back to the base the talons went straight to the showers to get washed up then went right to their rooms to get rested up, when he was about to head off to his room as well William called him

"What is it sir?"

"How did the mission go?"

"The mission was successful we were able to dispose of the criminals and protect the circus"

"You did not meet any problems along the way such as with Haley, one of the talons informed me that you were inside his trailer"

"He's alive"

"Yes I am aware of that he called to thank me for the protection…..from the hospital"

"The criminal had him as a hostage with a pistol aimed at his head. I eliminated the hostage situation to take out the criminal I made sure not to hit any vital spots"

"You're lucky he wasn't killed if that had happened we would have had to restart this process with a new ringmaster"

"Well you do not may I retreat to my room now sir?"

"Yes you are dismissed"

He bowed and left the room

_To be continued _

**This was just another idea I had I haven't gotten any suggestions yet to help me with the story I don't want the rescue to come to soon cause I want enough chapters of the court before he gets adopted and becomes a hero**

**I realized something the other day too in this story he hates his family now and his superhero name was from his mother so if he doesn't want to be reminded of them would his name still be robin? I thought of some other names that I liked such as: Black bat, Shadow, or raven**

**School is starting to really pick up getting some homework more often now. And I have to clean and cook when I get home but I just found out to day that even if I fail my worst subject trigonometry I'll still graduate so that's a relief.**

**Please I really need suggestions they come really slow to me and I like to have something to do other than cooking and this is the only thing I have to do other than my other chores **


	8. Changes

Changes

Batman felt speechless when he saw the sight before him, he knew that some of the other leaguers had already witnessed what Richard was capable of but he still wished he never had to witness it, he knew he would come in contact with Richard at least once while he was with the talons but he wished it was under different circumstances.

He dropped the talon helmet to the ground after he had successfully pulled it off to see Richards slightly aged face. He hadn't really changed much though he still had his cerulean eyes, olive toned skin, but his hair was a little longer now

He had received a bat wave alert about a murder close by and he was able to get there just in time to see Richard fly out of the window of the apartment and had chased him until he stopped him a few rooftops away

"Richard?" he asked even though he already knew it was him

The boy didn't answer only threw a shuriken at him that he was able to dodge but didn't notice the punch to the face that he got after he moved out of the way making him stutter his feet just a bit, but was able to recover just in time to stop the variety of attacks the boy sent at him next

"I don't want to hurt you Richard!" he yelled as he caught the boy's wrist in his hand to stop anymore attacks

He glared at him and then bent down to swept batman off his feet causing him to let go of his wrist but he caught himself with his hands and kicked Richard making him move back a bit but he recovered quickly and sent a few smoke pellets to the ground so he could escape

He grabbed his helmet and threw it back on as he began running across the rooftops back toward the helicopter rendezvous point and after a few minutes of running he looked behind him to see if anyone was following him but didn't see anyone so decided to slow his pace. When he was almost back to the point he got the feeling something wasn't right but didn't know what it was

The sound of a whip caught his attention and jumped out of the way just before it could wrap around his foot and flipped to turn to see his attacker. He was surprised to see that it was catwoman and both of them had shocked expressions at the sight of each other

"You need to stop this Richard!" she yelled

He lifted an eyebrow 'How does she know my name? I thought only the heroes knew that' He had heard a few rumors that catwoman had changed her ways and began helping the heroes on occasions

"I am only doing what I am ordered to do" he answered as he threw a few shurikens at her that she was easily able to dodge from her swift acrobatics. Though she wasn't as good as him in that department she still impressed him with her movements

"You don't need to do that stuff you can escape and try to have a normal life again" Batman called as he dropped down behind him

Richard narrowed his eyes at the two adults, Catwoman was in front of him and Batman was in behind him "Are you planning to arrest me now that you have me surrounded?"

"The police don't have to know that you committed any of these crimes. You are still a missing person to them and if we brought you back you could still be adopted"

He scoffed "What would be the purpose of adoption in my case, I'd be given a new household just to be turned away again" He shook his head " No I'd rather save myself the betrayal and stay with the court"

"There are people who care about you Richard! Don't you remember Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle the day you were taken from the center"

He flinched at the memory of course he remembered them, he remembered how nice they had been to him enough to come and see him at the center and offer to come and live with them as their son " I rather doubt they would have waited this long for the adoption of someone who has long since been declared dead"

"You're wrong they're the ones who asked of the league to help search for you"

His eyes widened at this 'How would they know the league?'

"They care about you very much there doesn't always have to be a purpose for someone's kindness you know. If everyone on the planet was a heartless liar it would have destroyed itself a long time ago"

He was about to respond when the communicator in his ear went off hurting his ear "Richard! You know better than to communicate with your enemies!" he flinched at the harsh tone of william's voice

"I am sorry sir I was not thinking" he responded

"Just hurry up and get back to the rendezvous point your mission has already been completed" William yelled and cut off the signal

"You don't need to go back Richard you can come with us"

He narrowed his eyes at them and was about to respond when his collar activated and shocked him surprising the two vigilantes of gotham but before they could help him some shurikens landed between them and Richard and exploded

The electricity finally stopped and his got back up to his feet and turned to see more talons had come to retrieve him "You were taking too long, William sent us to retrieve you"

He nodded and ran over to them and they were able to escape just as Batman and Catwoman came out of the smoke to see they were gone

"What was that?" selina turned to bruce "He was electrocuted out of no where"

"There must be something attached to him that causes that to happen if he ever disobeys the court which must explain why he has never tried to escape while out in the field"

She nodded "So where do we go from here?"

"I was able to figure out what luthor meant by what he said about the court being very large but also in ruins" He explained as they began walking back to the Batmobile

"And?"

"I already know that the court is somewhere in gotham since Richard never left the area but by the ruins he didn't mean that the base was demolished he meant that the base was in the old ruins of gotham"

Selina was surprised by what he said the gotham ruins were far out in the forests of Gotham and there were a lot of them so he would have to find the ones that were inhabited "Which ruins is the base located in then"

"I am not quite sure yet but I am going to go searching in the ruins everytime I can to find out but there will also be a lot of talons around it so it won't be very hard to find"

"How to you plan to save Richard if we would have to fight dozens of talons to get to him"

"I plan on getting the league's help to take care of them while I look for Richard"

"Good plan when are you going searching?"

"Soon"

oOo

"When will you ever learn boy" William scowled down at the exhausted boy

Richard was sweating hard after being shocked so many times in the past few minutes his throat felt like it was on fire from the electricity and the serum "I am sorry sir I did not mean to disobey your orders" his voice sounded rusty

" Don't be sorry boy!" he yelled " You will learn through your mistakes from the punishment we give"

He nodded "Yes sir"

"You are lucky that I will not give you the same type of punishment you would usually receive from disobeying orders"

He didn't respond and just waited to hear what was going to happen to him

"I have seen that even though the serum brings pain in extreme injuries from your punishments I feel that is not enough for you to learn so your punishment will be going to the training area and to fight against some of the strongest robots we have until I say you can rest"

His eyes widened at the task the robots were only used for the most advanced talons of the court and they were always so strong and fast that he knew it would take a lot more training to be up to that level but he knew that if he disobeyed William he would be in for something worse

"Yes sir"

/time skip/

The serum was making it really hard for him to fight against these robots because with the added pain of its healing he couldn't really move when they attack him which only caused him to get more injuries. He also didn't have the protection of his armor because he was wearing a GI, He was wearing a v-neck sleeveless shirt, baggy pants, a sash on his waist, and regular shoes.

He ducked under a punch one of them sent at him but wasn't quick enough to dodge the kick to the stomach after it twisted around making him yelp from the mechanical leg and spit out a little blood. He was hit in the back from another bot sending him the floor but he caught himself with his hands and flipped around to kick the bot in the face

Another bot grabbed his ankle and send him crashing onto the floor then began spinning him around in a circle around it before Richard used his other foot to kick it on the side of the face making it let him go. He staggered on his feet as he got his balance and got back into a fighting stance against the three bots

They had already caused a lot of injuries including the ones that had already healed themselves, a few cuts, scrapes, bruises, and a lot of bleeding that already stained his GI. He didn't know how long it had been since he had been in here but it felt like hours.

Some other things that had him distracted was what Batman and Catwoman had told him about Bruce and Selina Wayne. He knew that they had gotten married from overhearing some other talons talking about it in the wreck room so he had assumed they had also adopted another kid to replace him, Imagine his surprise when he heard that they were the ones that put together this huge search party for him. He didn't know what to think 'I had only spent a little over 30 minutes talking to them at the center an hour if I count the night I met bruce so why?'

He was so distracted that he didn't notice the punch one of the bots send at him sending him skidding to the floor, another bot jumped up and was attempting to land on him with another punch but he quickly flipped out of the way making it's fist connect with the floor. He twisted around and punched the bot coming up to him from behind in the stomach making it move back then jumped up to avoid an attack from another bot. The attack ended up hitting the other bot breaking it giving him an idea.

Once he had gotten a bot on each side of him he smirked "What are you waiting for I am right here!" he taunted them and just as he had planned both of them came at him attempting to attack him but he jumped up making them hit each other and break as they both fell to the ground

When he heard the sound of clapping he was surprised and turned to see William was standing at the door of the training area "I am not easily impressed richard, it takes a good technician to know how to defeat those bots"

"I only acquired the plan for defeat after seeing the bots didn't not have enough common sense to see I was making them attack each other"

"Now you just have to fix the bots for the next training session you have"

He turned to him lifting an eyebrow "Excuse me sir but I do not have the necessary tools needed to repair the bots or the blueprints"

"We will move them to the required area where you will repair them you have been taught in that department as well so it should be easy for you"

He sighed "yes sir"

oOo

"Where you going?" Green arrow asked batman as he began walking toward the zeta tubes

"I'm going to do some searching" he answered not stopping to turn to him until flash stopped in front of him blocking his path

"For whom?"

"I don't think I need to tell you" he moved past flash to the zeta beams until superman blocked the keypad so he was beginning to get annoyed "what?"

"We just thought you could use some rest and let us take over for a while"

"I don't think you can help I'm close to finding the location of the base"

"Really where?" green arrow asked

"I was able to narrow it down to the old gothan ruins surrounding the city in the nearby forests but there are a lot to search through so it will take time to narrow down the exact ruins it is in"

"The why don't we help I'm sure with our speed we can search through all the ruins in no time until we get to the right ones" Flash suggested

"I don't want to alert the talons that we know of the base's location if they did they could run and we'd have to start this whole process all over again" Batman shook his head

"So you're going to search alone?"

"Selina said she would help so I have her"

"Alright but call if you need it"

He nodded and left through the zeta beams back to the batcave and once he arrived he saw that selina was already dressed in her Catwoman personal with the bat-cycle and batmobile ready to go

"You ready?" she asked

"Yes we'll start on the west side of Gotham"

"Do be careful if the talons were to catch wind of you snooping around they might come and attack you" Alfred warned

"We'll be sure to keep a look out" selina assured him

oOo

Richard finally finished correcting the wiring inside the bot's head and welded a new piece for it's head so was now using the electric screw driver to put it in place. This had taken a lot longer than people would think because he had to replace all the wiring that had been damaged, then connect them back to the right wires, cut off the damaged metal then weld more metal into the right shape, place it on and screw it then paint it and finally test it.

He was glad that they were functioning properly so all he had left to do was take them back to the training area for the next time they had to be used

"Good Richard you may retreat back to your room until I call you for your next mission"

He bowed in response and did as ordered. He collapsed on his cot when he went in from exhaustion, He sat on the cot and stared off into space for a while to think

'I am really getting tired of having everything decided for me' he thought back on his life and let out a weak laugh 'though that is the only thing that I have ever know to do' The Grayson's had told him what to do every second of the day whenever he wasn't hanging out with his friends, the juvenile detention center there was already a schedule for what he had to do and here William always told him what to do so he wouldn't really know what it was like to be able to do things his way

He thought back to the Wayne's and was still confused about how they would know the justice league enough to personally ask them to help search for him. 'Perhaps because of their wealth they have paid the league for time out of their schedules to search' Bruce was a multi-billionaire so of course he would have that kind of money

Bruce had told him that his parents had been killed in front of him when he was a little boy after they had left a theater going down an ally way and said he felt they had a strong connection from the same expericance. Flash had told him he knew of his past so that must have meant he knew about the circus's deal with the court so he wondered if Bruce and selina knew he was a murderer they would obviously turn him away if they knew that so they must not know.

'Why am I even think about such things there's no way I can escape the court even if I didn't have this collar on me' He reached his hand up to the cold metal and wondered how the skin under it was like after two years with no air to it. He looked down to his wrists and ankles to look at the scaring from the so many times he had been chained to the walls, he thought the serum wouldn't leave any scars but guessed that it couldn't do anything against that like the symbol on his deltoid.

'Yes I can never have a normal life even if I escape" he knew that even if he did the court would just come after him again since he was their precious heir after William killed over. He was not coward enough to commit suicide either he had had plenty of chance with the shurikens to do it before but never fully went through with it because even if he did cut himself the serum would heal it before he could bleed out

'I gave up that hope a long time ago' he sighed as he laid down on his cot to sleep

_To be continued_

**I'll probably make the rescue next chapter since I can't really think of anything else and they are already searching through the ruins. I plan to have William leave Richard to die in the fire to destroy evidence of the base ever being there and batman and catwoman would come just in time **

**I haven't heard anything about ehat you think about the Visa idea but I really want to do it after all the research I've done on it and I want to write about the way things have changed in Richard when he is brought back to the center**

**I have to give a presentation on phobias in one of my classes tomorrow it was a huge mistake to sign up for speech 1 in the first place because of my stage fright I always get so embarrassed after I'm done because I get all red, start shaking, and stutter in my words at least on here you can't see my face and I'm not in front of a audience to be directly criticized for my mistakes. Oh well I'll have to deal with it and get over the embarrassment **


	9. Rescued

Rescued

William was positively furious when he heard the reports from his talons that were out on patrol around the base. Batman and Catwoman had been seen investigating around the ruins above the underground sections of the base a few miles away a few nights ago but the talons decided to stay in the shadows so they would not draw attention to the base.

"Sir the boy is causing too much unwanted attention"

"Don't you think I know that!" he yelled

"I'm sorry sir but because of him our base is close to being invaded and we must do something soon if we don't want the court exposed"

"Where is Richard?" he asked

"He is still out on his mission that you sent him on a few hours ago but he should be returning soon. What are your orders sir"

William thought about his plan of action even if he killed Richard the stupid heroes would want justice for him and keep investigating for the court's base, if he handed the boy over he would be seen as a coward to the talons and felt like he lost, and there was not enough skill in the talons to take the league out so what else was there.

"We might have to disband for the time being"

"Sir?!"

"The league is too close to verifying our location and if they do manage to find the base they could have us all killed or arrested making the court end for good"

"What about the boy? Where would he go?"

He did not want to lose to the league. If they could not have Richard then no one could "We will need to kill him so that he does not reveal any information about us to anyone and so that the league will not get their hands on him"

"Of course sir I will take care of it once he returns…"

"No….we also need to disband we cannot leave any evidence that the court was ever here we need to destroy the base as well"

"How do you plan on doing that sir?"

"I will tell you but when Richard returns I will deal with him personally understand"

The talons nodded

oOo

Richard was currently out on another mission that the talons had assigned him to, He was sent to assassinate a human trafficker/ drug dealer that had been causing a lot of problems for one of their clients

He was sitting in the shadows across the window on a roof from the man's apartment building waiting for him to come home which should be any time now 'Hopefully I won't be chased again tonight I don't want another punishment right now' he sighed he had been thinking way too much for the past few days and it was giving him a headache

'I just want to get this mission over with, get back to the helicopter, do my report, and get back to my room for this process again tomorrow' he crossed his arms as he leaned against a wall but was still thinking back to everything he had learned from the league during his missions but shook his head 'idiot! Stop or do you want another beating!'

The radios in his helmet that enhaced his sense or hearing picked up the sound of the apartment door being unlocked. He looked over to see the man from the picture he was given was kicking off his shoes as he headed to the couch so he used his stealth skills to stay in the shadows and broke the lock on a window, slipped inside, and closed it behind him

The man put his feet on the table and turned on the tv to a sports channel. He decided to get this over with quickly so he got out three shurikens and threw them at the tv blowing it up and making the man jump and turn around but he didn't see anything

"Who's there!" he yelled and got out a pistol from his back pocket and unlocked the safety and held it up as he searched around for anyone when another shuriken came flying knocking the pistol from his hands and cutting it so he looked over to see the talon "Wha-what? Who are you!"

He didn't respond just rushed at him and punched him in the stomach knocking him to the floor against the wall then got out his sword and held it up to the man's throat "W-wait a min.!" he yelled before he sliced his throat killing him

He headed back to the window he got a transmission on his communicator "Yes?"

"Get back to the rendezvous point now William has called all talons to report back to the base"

He lifted an eyebrow "Alright I am on my way" he cut off the signal and jumped out the window to the roof and began running back to the helicopter 'What would be william's purpose for calling all talons back to base' he though back on the past 2 years and never had that happened so it must be serious if William telling them this

When he arrived back at the helicopter he got into his seat across from another talon "Did you at least complete your mission?"

"Yes I slit his throat"

"Good" he turned to the pilot "Get us back to the base"

"Yes sir" he nodded and began the engines

oOo

Richard was confused when they arrived back at the base every one of the talons had been standing in the training section under the railing that leaded to William's office. "William wishes to see you first boy"

He nodded and headed to the office door and announced his presense over the intercom so once the green light turned on he stepped in "You wished to see me sir"

"Yes Richard" he stood up from his desk and moved to stand in front of Richard "You see the league is causing a enormous amount of problems for the court to complete their missions successfully"

He lifted an eyebrow 'where is he going with this?' he knew that the court of owls were no match for the justice league of America. "I do not understand your meaning sir"

"Follow me" he opened the door and walked out with Richard in tow and he was shocked at the scene before him the place had been trashed from what he had seen just a few minutes ago I looked like a war had went on in here and all the talons were gone save for a few with gasoline jugs pouring it around the training area

As they walked down to the area William began talking again "Because of the league's interest in you it has forced me to come to terms of disbanding the court for the time being"

Richard was shocked at the news where would he go if he didn't have the court he could just walk back into Gotham and say 'hey I'm alive' "Where are we going to go sir?"

"Until further notice all other talons are to go on to live normal lives while I devise a plan to bring it back once this had all blow over"

He heard some of the remaining talons break apart some furniture and throw it across the room as they finished emptying the gasoline jugs

"This is the first time in the history of the court that we have ever been forced to disband Richard" William sounded angry as he stopped walking and turned back to him making him stop just a few feet away from him "we have been around for at least a century so you must understand how angered I've become to be forced to do this"

"But it is not forever sir once the league gives up on me we can restore the court and get back to business"

"Your right about that Richard" he sighed "When the talons decided to name you as the heir to the court it was supposed to be like any other generation, we would take you in train you to be the world's greatest assassin and you would carry on our legacy until the day you died"

"Is that not still the plan?"

"No" he shook his head "You were a remarkable student Richard to have progressed so much in such little time" he turned to the talons around the room and nodded

They each got something out of their pockets and he could tell they were small lighters and threw them to the gasoline puddles making it catch on fire right away. Richard looked around at the spreading fire and wondered when they were gonna get out of here before it was too late "Um, sir shouldn't we leave?"

"The serum cannot save a person from burning to death Richard"

His eyes widened and looked up to William

"The league will give up on you yes but that will be because you would have been declared dead officially and there will be no point to go after a disbanded court"

He sighed "You plan to kill me in this fire then?"

"Of course you were always just an extra assassin to our court and there are plenty of those in the world I'm sure the court can survive without one generation of an heir"

There were now small piece of the walls falling off and you could hear the sound of creaking around the room as it burned from the fires. But the talons paid no mind to it being to memorized in their conversation "There are a few talons we have been forced to kill in the past besides you boy we would simply wait for the right moment to stab them in the back"

Richard narrowed his eyes and quickly got out his sword to block another talon's sword from hitting him from behind but while he was holding the sword in place he was kicked away in the stomach making him skid on the floor before he flipped back to his feet "I won't die easily William!" he glared

"I know that but it won't take the talons to kill you" he lifted an eyebrow "You never did understand to full extent to mind your surroundings child"

It was too late for him to move when a beam fell on him after it collapsed. The thing weighed a ton so he was in serious pain before he was knocked out from the feel of bones breaking

"You have forced me to leave the court behind Richard" William looked down at the unconscious boy "Consider this payback" he turned and left with the other talons making it outside and he turned to two talons "Make sure no one goes in or out"

"Yes sir!" they bowed and took their positions at each side of the entrance

William and all the other talons left by different transportation methods while the two talons waited for the entire base to fully collapse in the fire to confirm the boy had died

Inside the place was quickly falling apart more and more pieces of the walls and the ceiling were falling off. One end of the railing had fallen off landing on the floor as the fire spread up the wall. Richard was still unconscious but you would see the sweat pouring down his head from the heat as his armor began cracking from the weight of the beam

Outside the two talons were still in their positions when two shadows passed above them and they got out their weapons to prepare for an attack but when they looked up there was no one there so they began walking forward when Batman and Catwoman dropped down behind them

When one talon tried to punch catwoman she grabbed his wrist and because of her flexibility she was able to kick her leg all the way up to his shoulder and force him down to the ground before she knocked him out with a hit to the head. Batman knocked his talon out with a kick to the gut then a hit to the head as well before they turned to the base and saw it was already beginning to collapse

"We have to hurry!" selina yelled and ran in with batman right behind her. They quickly ran through the the halls of the base avoiding any falling rafters or beams when they finally made it to the training area to see Richard trapped under the beam

They ran over and tried to pull it off him but it was too heavy "Stand back" Batman warned her and got out two disks from his belt and placed them on the bottom of each side of the beam next to Richard and turned them on as the beam flew off him.

The entire roof fell in on the other side of the area so he quickly grabbed Richard "We got him let's go"

They made it out just as the rest of the building finally collapsed and because of the ammo they had in there was a pretty large explosion but batman was able to shield them from the blast with his cape. Once it was over he put Richard down to check him over

Selina saw he was bleeding from one side of his head and on his stomach were a talon had managed to slice him before he was trapped under the beam "He needs medical attention"

"I know we should take him to the hall of justice there Martian manhunter can look him over and I can get Dr. Leslie thomphkins to help too"

"Ok let's go"

oOo

"You actually rescued him" Superman was shocked

Batman had called off the search for Richard over the communicators saying that he and selina saved him from the base and they had brought him to the hall of justice for medical attention

"How did you take out an entire base of assassins with no back up?" black canary asked she found it hard to believe

"We didn't it seems the talons were aware that we were close to finding the location of their base to they fled and left Richard to die in the fire they set to destroy the base luckily we got there just in time to get him out"

"Where would the talons go then?"

"We don't know but that doesn't really matter right now" Selina looked to the med bay of the hall

"How bad is he?" Green lantern asked

"Leslie said he had a few broken bones and some injuries to his head and abdomen" bruce answered

"Damn" superman whispered

Suddenly the door to the med bay opened and martian manhunter stepped out so they all turned to him for the needed surgeries "It is strange but he will not require surgery"

"What?!" selina yelled "He had broken bones they need to be realigned"

"Not anymore"

"What do you mean?"

"It surprised me and we checked several times but his 'broken bones' are already realigned and the other injuries he received are healed as well"

"How is that possible" flash asked that wasn't normal for a human boy to heal to fast

"Perhaps he can tell us when he awakens"

"Can we see him" selina asked

"Of course"

Bruce and selina stepped into the med bay to see Richard was now in a hospital shirt and pants with the cover over him. He was sedated as well so he wouldn't wake up anytime soon, his armor had been thrown away too along with the weapons

"We can't get that collar off" leslie gestured to the metal wrapping around his neck

Bruce frowned at it and turned to superman "Can you get that off"

"Sure" superman walked up to Richard and gripped the collar with both hands and before long he crushed it and bent it off his neck. He frowned when he saw scarring on the skin where it used to be

"That is not the only scarring" martian manhunter explained and he lifted one of richard's wrists from under the cover to show scarring on it "it is the same for his other wrist and ankles"

"He really was a prisoner" green arrow examined all the scarring

"So what now? He's free from the court but he obviously can't go home with you since he's been declared dead" wonder woman asked

The couple looked at each other wondering what they would do they hadn't really planned this far yet

"You need to take him back to social services that a way you can officially adopt him" flash explained

"Would that be wise he's a trained assassin and if that social worker is still as cruel as she is she'll place him back in the juvenile detention center where obviously the inmates will try and attack him"

"And he gets angry whenever they mention the graysons or the circus and that will say his last name making him attack"

"You need to explain to him the situation and make sure that doesn't happen then. You have to get Commissioner Gordon to show he's alive and get his case opened again" superman explained

"We'll do that once he wakes up"

oOo

Richard began waking up fluttering his eyes and once they were fully open he was shocked at his surroundings and immediately sat up until he felt a tug on his arm so he turned to see an IV, further inspection showed he had an oxygen mask on, and had a hospital gown on.

'What happened?' he thought he didn't recognize the place at all the last thing he remembered was having the beam fall on him and being knocked unconscious

"Your finally awake I see" Dr. thompkins walked up to him from one side of the bed surprising him "Don't worry I won't hurt you" she assured him

"Where am i?" he asked

"You were rescued from the fire by Batman and Catwoman they brought you here to the Hall of Justice for medical attention but strangely enough it all healed before we needed to do anything"

He sighed and fell back down on the bed "Are you going to send me to jail now"

"They were never planning that from the beginning remember they did that for bruce and selina wayne to adopt you"

He looked down toward his legs to think 'The circus, the Grayson's, William, and now the Wayne's I wonder who will be next'

"Why don't I call them in here so they can tell you for themselves" Leslie walked out the door and a few minutes later Batman and Catwoman came in

"Are you ok?" Selina asked

He shrugged in response and looked away

"Richard do you know if the talons will come after you if they know you didn't die in the fire?" bruce asked

He shook his head "The head talon has disbanded the court for the time being all the talons are to live normal lives until further notice I don't know anything other than that"

"Well if they are disbanded then you're safe from the court and can try and live a normal life"

He looked at her like she was crazy "Are you not going to send me to jail now?"

"No we know that you never wanted to be a talon and the Wayne's are still ready to adopt you"

"Once they find out I've become a murderer I'm sure they will have second thoughts on that"

"No they won't"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because…." Selina turned to batman and he nodded so she began taking off her mask surprising Richard as the blue eyes and long black hair were revealed to show Selina Kyle Wayne and batman was next revealing Bruce Allen Wayne

"After he got over his shock "I am surprised you trust me enough with your secret identities"

"We've been searching for you since the night at the center. This was just to show that there will be no secrets between us so that you can trust us"

Richard looked down "Does that mean I have to tell you everything I learned from the talons?"

"Not everything but there is a few things that would cause concern such as why you can heal so fast?"

"The court injected a serum into my blood stream that heals injuries remarkable fast no matter how severe but it is very painful on the serious ones"

"Ok that's good to know but Is there a way to get it out?" selina asked

"Not that I know of"

"We can deal with that another time but Richard you know that you can't just come and live with us immediately right" he nodded knowing where he was going with this "We will have to turn you over to social services for the time being but just like we promised we'll get the adoption approved" bruce explained

"Not much I can do anyway you look at it"

"Is there anything on your person that can cause suspicion on where you have been all this time" selina asked

Richard thought for a moment then remembered the symbol "Yes I was initiated into the court a while ago and I was marked with their symbol" he rolled up his right sleeve to reveal the same symbol on the shurikens across burned skin covered In ink

"Maybe you can keep that covered up until we can find a good explanation for it"

"There is something else Richard. I Know that you are angered easily whenever someone mentions certain thing about your past" he narrowed his eyes at bruce "But you need to control your temper obviously they will say your last name because they don't know about any of this and that could get you locked up for attacking someone"

He thought about it for a while "I only attack people I know can take it I promise not to attack anyone unless it's self defence"

"Alright good now we have to inform Commissioner Gordon"

oOo

Jim Gordon was sitting at his desk working on some paper work when batman came in through the window of his office from the fire escape. "Is there something you need batman?"

"Yes I need to contact social services and say Richard Grayson is alive"

"You know where he is?" jim got up from his desk and walked over to him

"Yes Catwoman and I were able to rescue him from his kidnappers and he is now at the Hall of Justice with her while I came to inform you"

"Is he alright? He's been missing for so long"

"He's scarred physically and mentally but I'm sure that can be healed with time"

"Yes well I would need to bring him here to the station so that his social worker can pick him up"

"I'll bring him back here then"

It didn't take very long for him to come back with catwoman and a nine-year old boy. Jim was quite surprised at the boy's appearance he had changed a bit, his hair grew longer, he grew a little taller, but what really stood out was the scarring on his neck and wrists.

"Are you alright Richard?" He asked bending down to his level but the boy didn't respond just continued to stare at the ground "Well I'll be sure to contact his social worker thank you for not giving up on him"

"It was our pleasure" selina smiled

"Hopefully he can have a new home soon" batman said

"Yes I hope so too"

oOo

Ms. Janine Russuel had been contacted that Richard Grayson had been found alive and was now at Gotham's police station. She was quite surprised to say the least she had been one of the many people who thought he had either died or in her opinion escaped.

She already made the arrangements for him to be placed back at the center so now she was just picking him from the station. She met Commissioner Gordon in his office where Richard was still staring off into space with his head hanging down

"He's really traumatized Ms. Russuel so can you please take it easy on him" jim asked

"Sure" she waved him off and turned to the boy "Come on let's go" she grabbed one of his wrists and pulled him forward but unlike last time he didn't protest and just let her pull him to the car and got into the back seat

Once they started driving she finally began talking to him "So I see your escape plan didn't work" she looked through the mirror to see he was still looking down "Though I see you made it look like you were kidnapped from the scaring on you"

Richard ignored her the entire way to the center as she continued to throw insults at him but he blocked her out as he was lost in thought. When they arrived through the entrance he stood frozen when a woman came up and hugged him, he hadn't been show affection in a long time so it felt so abnormal to him

"Richard I'm so glad you're alright" she pulled away and he saw she was Ms. Rossi " I know you must be pretty traumatized but I promised to help you heal from that ok"

"So you still believe the gypsy was kidnapped huh? Ms. Russuel scoffed

Ms. Rossi glared at her "Of course I do"

"Can't you see that the boy had grown muscle and doesn't look malnourished in the least he was obviously somewhere having the time of his life I'm sure.."

He had finally had enough of her insults "Would you mind having enough self-control to keep your own opinions to yourself and do your job" he gritted out

"Why I never heard such disrespect" Ms. Russuel raised her hand to hit him but he caught her wrist and fligged it back down then looked away "He tried to hurt me"

"Ms. Russuel he was merely defending himself you have been nothing but cruel to him since you met and even now after he's been found" Ms. Rossi put her hands on her hips

"Fine just continue to be fooled by him while I see the truth" She turned and left to go back to her office

Ms. Rossi sighed then turned back to Richard " The Wayne's have been looking for you all this time you know I'm sure that the adoption will now proceed since your back now"

He gave a weak nod in confirmation

"Why don't we get you to a cell so you can rest I'm sure you haven't had something like that in a long time"

_To be continued _

**Ok the rescues done I haven't really planned for the talons to come back in the story so I'm just gonna keep going on like this until he become robin and then young justice. I still plan on doing the visa next chapter but obviously bruce will not let him be deported back to Europe so I'm still researching a bit more on that**


	10. Refresh the Visa

Refresh the Visa

Apparently someone had leaked to the press that the boy known as Richard John Grayson had been found alive after missing for more than 2 years by Gotham's vigilantes Batman and Catwoman and the press were going wild trying to get details from the boy or the heroes but haven't been able to get the proper qualifications for either of them

Bruce and Selina were sort of thankful that the press had published Richard's return because now when they went to put the adoption back in process they wouldn't have to explain how they knew he was back. But they were shocked when they heard Ms. Russuel say that he was not up for adoption anymore

"You said you would put the adoption back in process once he was found" Selina glared

"Yes but there is something I found out a little after I put the adoption on hold about how he was able to be in the US without even being born here" She crossed her arms

Bruce realized where she was going with this and had never even thought about that part of richard's life he had just assumed that he had been born while on tour in the US.

"Richard had a nonimmigrant visa to be able to travel with the circus in the US but it expired over a year ago and we simply can't have an immigrant on American soil so he will have to be deported back to Romania once I have the proper paperwork"

"Hold on can't we get him citizenship so that he can stay in the US to be eligible for adoption?" Bruce asked

"No because for one thing he would need to be 18 years old and he is clearly only 9 and he would need to be in the Us for 5 years and I don't know where he went during these past 2 years but if I count that he would only have 3 years. He need to have knowledge of our government and and be able to speak English perfectly and as I saw him he still has that accent of his"

"He can't help an accent just like you can't speak in another accent other than American and why don't you just refresh the Visa your 5 years until he's eligible for citizenship"

"Refreshing a Visa costs a lot of money Mr. wayne and we should use that money on the children who are citizens not on an immigrant"

"I'll pay for it money's not an issue for us"

"Why are you so content on adopting this boy there are plenty or orphans that could use a home and I'm sure Richard will be happy once he's back in his home country"

Selina glared "He doesn't have anyone left in the world so the least we can do for him is give him a home in a place he is familiar with and to people he knows"

Janine sighed "Getting visa for a orphan immigrant is a long process if you must know, I'm sure you meet most of the qualifications but you need to complete a pre-adoption that proceeds though the surrogate court of the state"

"Alright do you have the paperwork?" Selina asked

"I can get that in just a minute" She got on her computer and after a few minutes the printer behind her let out a few papers and she handed it to them and they filled it out putting both their signitures at the bottom then handed it back to her "Next you will have to fill out a I-600 on behalf or the child you are adopting" she already had the papers and they filled them out as well

"Now I will have to send this to the European embassy of America and they will send you a notification once it's approved and then I will put in place the proper procedures needed for the visa"

"How long will the form take to be approved?"

"Well it depends if you want it done a fast as possible you need to pay a rather large fee and I'm sure you will go for that since you're a billionaire that should take a little less than a week or two"

"I can wire the money whenever you need but is there a way to have Richard be brought back to our residence during the time being?" selina asked

Janine shook her head "No that is against regulations be happy he isn't being deported in the time being though"

"Then that's good enough" Bruce stopped selina before she could move toward the woman "We will notify you once we have the approval"

"Sure"

The left the building back to the limo where Alfred was waiting in the driver's seat

"What has occurred sir?" he asked seeing their expressions

"The adoption is still on hold Richard was only aloud in America because he had a visa to travel with the circus until they went back to Europe but it expired a year ago so now we have to refresh it but we can't do that until some paperwork is approved for eligible adoption" Bruce explained

"I see how long will that take?"

"It shouldn't take any longer than two weeks at the most but in the time being Richard will have to stay at the center until this has all been done" selina sighed

"Well the talons have disbanded correct so at least now you do not have to worry about him going anywhere right?"

"Yes thank you Alfred"

"Shouldn't we go and tell Richard about what's happening so that he doesn't start wondering what's taking so long?"

"There are specific days you have for visiting at the center and I'm afraid today is not one of those days but you could try and sending him a letter to inform him" he offered

"Right we'll do that"

"Hopefully the inmates haven't done anything that would require him to fight"

"You can only hope for so much selina"

oOo

Bruce and selina were right when they thought the inmates wouldn't try and attack Richard because once they heard about their old favorite punching bag was back they didn't waste any time on finding him.

Richard had been sitting against a wall with his head down when he noticed some inmates had approached him blocking the sunlight from view but he didn't bother to acknowledge them just hoping they would leave before he had to hurt them

"Well look who it is the circus freak back after so long I guess he missed us so decided to come back" one said

He glanced up through his bangs to see it was ray and is crew from the last time he had been here 'when will they ever learn' but when ray grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up he knew they weren't gonna leave

"Why don't we see if you still remember the rules around here eh?" He lifted a fist to punch him but he caught the fist before it hit shocking him then grabbed the wrist of the hand on his collar and twisted it making him yelp as his back now faced him and then kicked him to the ground

"Why you little punk!" The other two ran at him attempting to punch him from both sides but he ducked under both of them and used both his fists to punch them hard in their stomachs then swept them off their feet with one of his legs making them fall to the ground unconscious

The rest of the courtyard had seen the entire thing and were shocked to see three of the toughest inmates be taken down by a 'the circus freak'. He didn't pay and mind to them and just walked away from the three boys to sit somewhere else

He saw that some of the gaurds came over to the boys and took them inside most likely to the infirmary to check them up, he went as easy as he could on them at least he didn't kill them or break and bones

"Boy Ms. Rossi wants to see you in her office right away" A guard came up to him and took him inside leading him right to her office where she was sitting at her desk

He didn't say anything to her and just went up and sat on the chair in front of the desk looking back down as usual 'Probably a punishment in my future'

"Richard I just received word from the infirmary that you beat up three boys in the courtyard the boys said you just lashed out at them" she didn't appear to be mad just a bit concerned "Do you have anything to say?"

His eyes shifted a bit "Believe what you want Ms. Rossi I'll prepare for whatever you decide"

She sighed "Being kidnapped for so long would indeed change someone's personality" she thought back to the sweet little boy that was always beat up for being a crybaby by the other inmates and now he was a emotionless and the tables had turned on the inmates "I know you might not want to talk about it but what exactly happened to you?"

Richard flinched as memories of the talons punishments and training flew through his mind and he looked down at the scars on his wrists "I do not wish to remember"

"You know healing from such a traumatic experience does involve talking about it with other people perhaps I could get permission to take you to the cemetery so that you can see your family's grave site "

"No thank you" he replied quickly that would be the last thing he would want

She was a bit shocked from his quick response "Oh alright then well maybe you can talk to be instead I am a therapist remember so perhaps you could start from what happened that night two years ago"

He thought back to his earliest memory and he remembered waking up in that cell with the collar around his neck and the shackle on his ankle "I don't think I should reveal that information" he knew he couldn't say anything about the court of owls even if they were gone

"Are you afraid of your kidnappers coming back for you"

He had been worried about that but he was sure William had left long before the base was destroyed but what if they came back for a body to confirm it and saw there was none then what. He looked away from her and that was enough of an answer for her

"I know you must be afraid and you will be able to overcome this but it will take time maybe you can just give brief expericances that I could help with such as the scaring on your neck or wrists"

He thought about it for a moment and thought if he didn't say exactly what happened then he would be alright so he sighed "I was unconscious after they took me from the cell that night so I do not remember where we went but when I woke up I had been chained in what seemed like a basement so I could escape through a window"

"That night after you disappeared batman showed up and I personally asked him to do everything he could to find you and though It took a while he did manage to do it" she assured him but it didn't change his expression so she asked something else "Do you know why you were taken?"

He tried to come up with a reasonable answer "those people wanted me to be like a perfect son to them, be athletic, intelligent, muscular, and a good fighter but they kept me chained in that basement the whole time until I was rescued"

"Well were off to a good start do you want to keep going?"

He shook his head he had already said enough

"Alright then the official here wanted me to give you a punishment for beating those boys up but I know that you were just defending yourself right?"

He didn't acknowledge it so she kept going "But I can take you back to your cell so you don't have to deal with those boys anymore so let's go"

oOo

"Sometimes I really don't like our government" Superman gritted

The justice league had called batman to the watchtower to ask the status of the adoption but they were surprised when he told them that the adoption was still on hold and explained about the visa expiration so now they had to wait for the paperwork to be approved then get a new visa, and until 5 years were up he couldn't be a citizen

"This had always been an issue for families all across the country but we never really looked into it but at least he won't be sent back to Europe right" Flash assured

"Yeah he's been through enough" aquaman sighed

"Selina had already sent a message for Richard to inform him on the situation we couldn't tell him in person because the center's visiting days aren't for another 2 days"

"Can't you take him home while you wait for the visa?" green arrow asked

"No his social worker said that was against their regulations and I already looked into it and it was confirmed that it's illegal for him to be brought to the manor"

"Really!" Black Canery huffed

"We can't do anything about the law"

"Do you know if he's injured anyone in the center?"

Bruce sighed "I might not be related to him but I looked at the record for the infirmary at the center and yesterday two boys were brought in for concussions and another for a twisted wrist"

"I think it's obvious it was him Bruce so what do you plan to do about his new fighting skills?" superman asked

"I thought he could just grow out of it and try to be a normal kid again"

Diana shook her head "I seriously doubt he's just gonna move on were you able to go back to a normal life after you trained with the league of assassins?"

"No but I chose to use my skills to be the protector of gotham, I don't think the world would approve if a boy came out of nowhere and began fighting crime"

"No but maybe you could train him into the ways of a hero"

"He should have a right to choose what he wants to do I won't force him to do something he doesn't want to do"

"Alright do you have any news on what happened to the talons?"

"No they just dropped off the face of the planet and hopefully they don't know Richard lived"

"Well they disbanded anyway so they can't take him again and reform the court all at once"

"Richard said they would disband until their leader gave them further notice and I don't think that will be anytime soon so he should be safe until the adoption is approved"

"Do you know how long that will all take?"

"The petition shouldn't take any more than two weeks and the visa about the same amount of time then the adoption should be quick"

"Yeah don't want him to take it too far with those inmates right?" flash tried to input a joke but no one laughed so he shut up

"There's also that serum he told me about I looked into that as well and there is a chemical that can relate to that but there is no way to get it out without accidently killing the person"

"Then he can live with it right it doesn't seem to affect him right?"

"It only caused pain for the most serious of injuries and I don't think that will be happening to him anymore"

"Right he's safe now"

oOo

Richard had been wondering what was going on with Bruce and Selina it had already been a few days since he had been brought back to the center and he had not heard a word from them he already felt like he could never trust anyone again so if they had lied about that then it would just sever the trust he had in other people

But while he was sitting in his cell he heard the door to his cell be unlocked so he glanced up to see Ms. Rossi with a guard, she turned to the man "You can leave now I'll lock it back up" she took the keys as he left and walked up to the boy

She handed him an envelope and he looked down at it to see it was from the Wayne's surprising him

"You shouldn't feel bad that they didn't come in person the visiting has been put off and without one of the official's permission they wouldn't be allowed to see you. There is a rule saying you have to be a family member to visit an inmate"

He nodded in acknowledgement and looked down at the letter in his two hands "Why don't you open it to see what they said" he turned it on its side and tore off a piece on the end and grabbed the paper inside. He unfolded the paper to read

_Dear Richard,_

_ Your probably wondering why we haven't contacted you about the progress on the adoption and why we haven't come to see you since we got back but your social worker Ms. Janine Russuel I'm sure you've met up with her already informed us that the visa you had to travel in the US expired a long time ago while you were gone and she was planning to deport you back to Romania. Bruce was able to convince her not too so you don't have to worry about that but now we have to wait for the approval of your adoption from the embassy of Europe but that won't take too long I promise, after that we have to get you a new visa so that you can apply for a citizenship in 5 years so that you won't have to worry about Immigration anymore. I'm sorry about the situation I'm sure you didn't know about the visa expiration or else you would have told us about it a long time ago but it's not an issue for us were happy to do whatever we can to have you adopted. I don't know if anyone had told you but the suitcases you brought from the circus were brought to our manor so you don't have to worry about your stuff being thrown away it will all be here once we bring you home. Try to bear the center for a little longer this legal stuff shouldn't take too long_

_ Love, Selina Wayne_

His eyes widened a bit when he read about his visa expiring but the Grayson's told him he had been born in a US hospital 'That must be something else they lied about' he was glad he wouldn't be sent back to Romania there he would be on his own in a world of strangers. So he would have to stay in the center until he got a new visa and the adoption was approved

He sighed and folded the paper back up

"What is it Richard?" Ms. Rossi asked she thought the letter would have cheered him up

"My social worker informed the wayne's that the visa I had to be in the US expired a long time ago but they are in the process of refreshing it so that adoption for me will be eligible"

"Well that's good news isn't it now you won't be deported to your home country"

He nodded and put the paper back in the envelope "Thank you for bring this to me Ms. Rossi"

"You're welcome" she smiled "Well I'll leave you to get some sleep you have your classes again tomorrow and you want to be in top shape" she walked out the gate and locked it back up as she left

Richard began to stare off into space to think about what he had just learned from selina's letter 'Did the Grayson's ever tell me something that was true' he gripped his pillow he had never been told that he wasn't a US citizen by anyone he guessed it didn't matter to them weather he knew or not since to them he would be taken eventually into isolation

He had heard stories about the origin of Batman and Catwoman's life as the vigilantes of Gotham suddenly wondering if that had something to do with why they wanted him so bad. Bruce's parents being killed when he was eight led to his life as a hero wanting to stop criminals from ever hurting anyone ever again and Selina was a criminal until she met Bruce and decided to help him because of her love for him. He wondered how he was going to live with heroes as his parent and a butler he had heard about named Alfred it would defiantly be something else alright

Maybe he could help them with their war against crime 'no the only style of fighting I know if assassinating and that's not allowed in their books so he would just have to grow out of his skills to try and be normal. He scoffed at himself 'You really think you can be a normal kid again you never were normal to begin with remember'

He would deal with this once he got to that point right now he wanted to sleep so he could prepare for the next day ahead

oOo

Bruce had just come from a tiring board meeting and was talking to lucius in his office about some plans for a prototype they were making when his phone in his pocket began ringing

"Excuse me lucius" He looked on the screen to see it was selina calling him and he wondered what it could be that she would call him during work "Yes selina?"

"Bruce I have wonderful news I just got the mail and the embassy of Europe approved of the adoption for Richard!" she sounded very happy

"What already" he smiled too "It's only been a week since we sent it"

"Well I guess that money you call a tip had a good influence on the time they took now we can get started on refreshing the visa"

"Yeah are you going to take the forms to social services?"

"Yes once I'm done talking to you I'll head over there right away and I think Alfred already pulled up in the limo"

"You should get going then and keep me updated on the visa"

"Sure" she hung up and he turned back to lucius who had an eyebrow raised

"Is there something I should be aware of bruce?" he asked

"Have you heard about a boy named Richard grayson?"

"Yes he was kidnapped two years ago but was recently found by batman and catwoman then brought back to social services"

"Selina and I are planning to adopt him but we need to refresh his visa to be able and selina just got word that the adoption was approved by the embassy so now she's taking it to the social worker so that she can get started"

Lucius's eyes widened "How long have you thought about adopting a child?"

"I've actually planned this since before he was kidnapped and now that he's back I can get it back on track"

"I'm happy for you but you do know that raising a child is a huge responsibility"

"Yes I know selina said the same thing when I told her"

"With her and alfred's help I know you'll be able to raise him well"

"Thank's lucius"

"I hope to meet the boy once you bring him home as well"

"That could take time he has to get used to the manor first remember"

"Right"

oOo

"Bruce is working right now but I don't think he needs to be here for this right?" selina explained as she handed the social worker the paperwork

"No only one of you have to sign for the visa" she looked to her computer and looked up the specific visa that Richard would need "The fee for his visa is about $280 how do you plan to pay?"

"A check" selina got out her checkbook, filled one out then handed it to Ms. Russuel

"You need to fill out this DS-160 form as a application for the visa" she handed her a paper and she filled it out putting her and bruce's information on it with her signature at the bottom

"Ok" Janine took the form back and ripped off the yellow sheet behind it "This one is for Richard he has to take it with him once he goes to the interview for the visa"

"So what's next?" selina asked

"I will need to submit his passport number and other personal documents to the embassy so that they can get the visa ready and I just have to make an appointment for him to go to the interview and after that the adoption can begin"

"How soon can you schedule the interview?"

"I have a very busy schedule and I will need to be the one to take him to the embassy so the closest time I can take him is" She looked down at her schedule "In about three days that should prepare him for what they will ask in the interview"

"Ok thank you"

Once she left the room she called bruce again to keep him updated "yes selina?" he asked

"She's applied for a visa already now all she has to do is schedule an appointment for an interview with Richard at the embassy and then the adoption can begin"

"That's great selina!"

"I know I'm going to write another letter to keep Richard updated he needs to prepare for the interview as well"

"Right." She heard over the phone that someone was calling bruce "I need to go I'll see you later"

"Ok bye"

oOo

These inmates just didn't know when they were outmatched more of the supposedly strongest boys had challenged him to a fight but none of them lasted more than a minute because they were too slow so he finally had enough of them and told them to leave him alone unless they wanted him to actually try in these fights

He always sent them a death glare when they even tried to approach him scaring them off so he was happy he didn't have to deal with them anymore. That's something he liked about his new skills last time he was here he was the once always beat up and pushed around but now if they didn't want to land in the infirmary they would leave him alone.

After classes were over he decided to stay in there to read a book called 'The Kite runner' that had caught his interest after the first few pages. He thought about the relationship between Amir and his father and how he always tried to impress him but it was never enough because he was a pushover to him. That sort of reminded him of William in a way but knew that was far from the story's reference

He was interrupted from his reading when he heard the door to the class open and saw Ms. Rossi walk in "You got another letter Richard" she handed him the envelope so he bookmarked the page and opened the letter

_Dear Richard_

_ I have wonderful news this time the embassy of Europe has approved of your adoption so now your social worker is putting together the last bit of information for your visa, she told me that you will be taken to the embassy for a interview then they will give you a new visa. I don't know when it will be specifically she didn't tell me anything else but once that is over with we can adopt you without any problems. Bruce put in another 'tip' for the petition's approval so it shouldn't take too long._

_ Love Selina Wayne_

He was surprised at how little time that took usually the approval of a petition took up 4 to 6 month to approve of but he guess that because of how famous the Wayne's were they had more influence on the embassy's decisions

"What's it say?" Ms. Rossi asked

"The Embassy approved of the petition and my social worker is putting together the information for my visa interview"

"That's great you'll be able to go and live with them soon then"

He nodded in confirmation and she assumed that was the most reaction she would get out of him so she let him get back to his reading and went back to her office

_To be continued_

**I looked up how long a petition and visa would take to get and it was about 4 to 6 month but I didn't want Richard to be in the center for that long so I thought that with the influence Bruce has he could quicken the process**

**I've read the book 'the kite runner' before and it was a really great story I just don't like that my favorite character died in it but oh well it was the writer's choice. Ms. Rossi was actually the name of my English teacher in 10****th**** grade and she was really nice and helpful to me so I decided to name the therapist after her**


	11. The interview

The interview

Janine didn't really want to bother with applying for richard's visa but she knew how powerful the Wayne family was and that they could end up sueing her for not doing her job just because of personal issues.

She grabbed the boy's file out of her cabinet to get all of his information ready, typed in the needed website for the application and got started. She wrote down the application ID for the embassy interview

The application asked for the name of his birth parents so she types in: John and Mary Grayson. Then had to put in his name and his home country Europe. Clicked for Male, his date of birth: December 1, 1996. He was born in the capital Bucharest, Romania. She clicked for does not apply on the Us identification numbers, for the address and phone information she put her office and numbers. Gotham, New Jersey.

Next was the passport information. The type: Regular. Number: R-XXXXXXXX. Then the information on where the passport was issued and the expiration date and went to the next page which was for the purpose of a visa. She put in adoption for Us citizens then Bruce and Selina's information. And last was Richard's past residence as a circus performer, All known blood relatives were deceased

Then submitted the application once she put in the pay for the visa selina had given her so now all she had to do is wait for the call on the appointment of the interview

oOo

The education departments of the Juvenile detention center were quite surprised from Richard's intelligence. He had aced all his work for the classes he was assigned to with flying colors so they decided to have him take another placement test to see which grade level he should be placed in

Ms. Rossi had just gotten the scores for his placement test and was shocked at the scores. The 9 year old boy who was supposed to be in 4th grade had scored for a child in 6th grade and even when he was 6 he had scored for a child in 2nd grade when he was supposed to be in kindergarten.

"Isnt this nice Richard you'll be able to learn a lot more now once your placed in a higher education level" She had called him to her office and handed him the scores

He didn't seem very enthusiastic "Yes Ms. Rossi" he still had the same dull expression he always had. Really he hadn't been trying on the test because he didn't want them to become suspicious on why he was so smart but he was surprised that even with the lack of effort he had scored so high

"Well why don't you get back to the courtyard so that we can get your new classes organized huh?" she asked and he nodded then was taken by a guard back

Even though the other inmates had stopped trying to hurt him he could still hear from their conversations that they still had the guts to at least insult him. Loser, Freak, circus gypsy, Mr. Tough guy, Mr. Know-it-all. And some of them had heard from eaves dropping that the Wayne's were planning to adopt him so started commenting about that as well, Spoiled orphan, charity case, and lucky bastard every now and then.

But he sent a death glare at them when he walked by shutting them up. The center didn't seem to care that it was raining outside so they were all out there getting soaked, and his hair was damped across his face so they could clearly see the anger in his eyes when he glared.

He didn't really mind the rain it actually felt relaxing to him, it had been a long time since he had seen any kind of weather other than sunshine and he was already dark enough. He knew he wouldn't get sick from being in the rain anyway the serum in his bloodstream took care of that as well, and the beat of the water against his skin felt soothing to his aching muscles. He didn't get up and move around that much so he was pretty stiff without the constant training, missions, and mechanical engineering he went through at the court.

But while he was sitting against the wall he thought about the last letter Selina sent him about the interview he would have to take for the visa. He didn't know what kind of questions he would be asked there but he hoped he wouldn't have to reveal any vital information that would end up getting him in trouble. He mostly like had been a baby when he got his first visa so the Grayson's would have had to have gone through this as well.

Once the rain began dampening his clothes he became worried that because he was wearing a white shirt the symbol on his deltoid could be seen through the shirt so he looked over to see you could make-out that something black was there but not much else so he could just pass it off as a bruise or burn he had gotten. Thankfully there was nothing else other than the scarring that would cause suspicion and would hopefully be able to wear a long sleeve shirt to the interview and not have to take it off.

oOo

"Master bruce there is something I have learned that may cause a problem with young lad's visa interview" Alfred joined them in the batcave

"What is it?"

"I just received a call from his social worker Ms. Russuel she has explained that the lad will need a medical examination for the interview and would like to know if you will provide a doctor"

"How is that a problem of course we will" selina asked

"You have explained to me that the court of owls had induced a chemical into his blood stream altering its blood type so that will be suspicious to doctors would it not?"

"Oh right" bruce commented "well maybe we can have Dr. Leslie thompkins perform the exam I could just explain to her the situation and she can pass him without any problem"

"Good thinking"

"Then I shall inform Ms. Russuel that you will provide Dr. thompkins for the exam"

"Thank you Alfred"

oOo

Richard had been on edge when Ms. Russuel had arrived at the center explaining that he will be taken to a doctor for a medical examination to take for the interview the next day. He felt his last hopes go down the drain he knew from the books he had read on these things at the center that the doctor would have to take an internal and physical examination so they would obviously find the serum and the symbol suspicious and fail him. Now he just had to go through with this until he was off to Bucharest, hopefully they wouldn't send him to a lab somewhere for tests.

They arrived at a clinic in crime ally of gotham and he felt that was weird he thought they would be going to a hospital for this.

When they went in they were met by an elderly woman in her sixties or seventies. She was in black flat shoes, a long tan skirt, and a red shirt under her doctor's coat. She had short white hair and had a nice expression on her face.

"Hello Ms. Russuel" she shook her hand then turned to him "And this must be Richard" she held out her hand to him "it's nice to meet you I'm Dr. Leslie Thompkins"

He shook her hand and nodded as a greeting

"Okay richard how about we go into the rooms so I can get started huh?" She motioned for them to follow her and they went to a rather large room with all sorts of medical tools in it. He could tell there was an x-ray machine in there but not much else he hadn't really needed to learn about this stuff at the court because of the serum

Dr. Thompkins had him sit on the bed while Ms. Russuel sat on a chair by the door.

"Alright do you have the needed paperwork for me?" She asked

She nodded and took a folder out of her briefcase. Inside she had Richard's passport, a photograph of him, and last known medical records. "Thank you" she nodded and look through them for a bit before turning back to him

She had him stand up to take his weight and height, then listened to his heart and lungs with her stethoscope 'hmm?' she heard a weird rhythm to his heartbeats 'This must be from that serum'. Next she looked down his throat and in his ears with her otoscope.

"Ok" She turned to his social worker "would it be alright if you waited in the waiting room while I proceed I don't think you would like to stay for the rest"

got what she was implying so she agreed and left the room. The doctor turned back to him "You can relax now don't worry I know about the serum"

His eyes widened and he looked straight up at her

"I got a call from bruce I know all about the vigilante stuff and what happened to you so you don't have to worry about failing the exam I know you can't help how your blood is altered"

He was surprised that she knew about all this stuff but he guessed that beign a hero would cause injuries and they would need a doctor to fix them up so they would have had to tell a doctor and get them to help. "Thank you"

"You're welcome but I still have to make it look like I went through all the regulations so I have to do everything necessary"

He nodded and let her take his blood pressure, check his reflexes, eye test, and some vaccinations that he already knew would be useless on his health. She finally got a needle attached to a tube and small container

"Ok I need to take a blood test now so it can at least tell me a blood type" She stuck the needle in a vein above his elbow and blood began pouring out through the tube and into the container. It looked normal enough he though the color would have changed he hadn't really ever looked at his blood since it was rare for him to bleed.

Once she was done she pulled the needle out and she had already had a cotton ball with tape to cover it up but she saw the hole was already closing up "Well it has to look like you did have you blood test so I have to put this on anyway"

She got a few more tools ready "I have to test you for TB now" his eyes widened he knew he couldn't have a disease so why "It's for regulation don't worry the test is called a TST" she inserted another needle a little under his skin and he felt a slight pinch and a little swelling. When she pulled it out she got a marker and circled the area as the swelling began reducing" Ok I have to wait a few minutes for the next part so why don't I go on with the other stuff"

While they waited for the TB test to finish she checked for: Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, influenza, Hib, Measles, meningococcal, mumps, pneumococcal, pertussis, polio, Rotavirus, Rubella, tetanus and diphtheria toxiods, and finally variella.

He could not believe the number of tests he had to go through who did these embassy people think he was to have so many diseases. He felt a bit insulted by that but just went through it all just for the sake of finishing it all.

"Ok can you lay down so I can take a chest X-ray" she asked as he did so and she placed something over his legs and got the machine over his chest, a remote and stepped back. She counted down and took two pictures before moving everything back. She placed the X-rays over a light "Ok everything checks out alright"

She then checked for HIV making him blush because the only way he heard of getting that was through sexual intercourse. She smiled when she saw his blush "You can get HIV through drugs, blood transfusion, organ transplant, and occupational exposure you know" that reassured him that they didn't think he had already lost his virginity.

He was asked about past medical history, personal questions regarding his behavior and past "The TB fluid should have done it's work by now so I have to make the injection" she placed a needle over the circle and injected the fluid once she was done she put another bandage over it.

"Ok that should be it" she filled out some forms that had given her then handed him the paper and a pen "You have to sign as the patient" he nodded and put his own signature next to the patient name.

She then went to the computer, typed in a few things and printed them and showed them to him

_Personal information_

_Name: Richard John Grayson_

_Address: ( office)_

_Gender: Male_

_Age: 9_

_Hair color: ebony_

_Ethnicity: Romanian _

_Medical records_

_Blood type: O negative_

_No infectious diseases or illnesses_

_Some scaring _

Everything was stuff he didn't really understand but when he saw his blood type he remembered that was what it had been before it was altered so that should be good to match his past records

"Well that should be it now why don't we go back to your social worker so you can prepare for your interview"

He nodded

They walked out of the room back to the waiting office where Ms, Russuel was waiting on a chair

"It's about time" she crossed her arms

"I'm sorry but those tests do take a lot of time" Dr. thompkkins handed her the files for his medical records "He's perfectly healthy"

"Let's get you back to the center then" she grabbed his hand and led him back to the car then drove back to the center "Be ready tomorrow were leaving for the embassy at 10am sharp"

He nodded and let the guard take him back to the cell

oOo

The European embassy of the united states was a rather large building than he thought it would be. showed their appointment letter to the security outside as he read a sign that said: no phones….no bags. They had to go through a security check once they were inside. Then had to give his fingerprints on a scanner to the staff at a desk. They asked for his records and Ms. Russuel handed them a folder with his medical records, dental records, birth certificate, passport, and other papers.

They handed her a ticket with a number on it and were told to go to the waiting area.

The lobby had a few chairs in it, some small tables with magazines on it, and a TV on the wall. There were a few other people there but he paid them no mind as he sat down on a chair and waited.

He had been a little nervous thinking of all the possible things that could go wrong in the interview but kept telling himself of ways that could be resolved and relaxed. After a while his name and number were called and told to proceed to a window so the social worker brought him there and was then told to leave so they could do the interview alone

"Can you put your left hand on the scanner" she asked and he did as told probably to verify he was the right person "Ok thank you" she then looked to the computer pulling up some files to see his visa was for adoption eligibility to the Wayne family "I see your visa is for an adoption correct"

He nodded for confirmation

"Ok let's get started then" she seemed to pull up some other thing on her computer "Your birth parents are deceased correct?" he nodded "You have no living blood relatives?" he quickly nodded knowing cobb wasn't a Grayson legally

"Why were you in the US when your parents died?"

He sighed holding in his anger "We were part of an international traveling circus and were touring the US to perform around the country" she nodded

"Since this is for adoption you would want the longest know visa we have correct" he nodded a bit "That would be about 3 years then after that you would need to refresh it again if you are adopted by then your adoption parents will accompany you is that ok" he nodded

"You are currently staying at a detention center with social services?" she frowned wondering what that was about as he nodded "May I ask why?"

"My social worker did not have anywhere else to place me and said that was an option social workers had for placement"

She felt assured by that but felt she wouldn't like that social worker "Your visa expired over a year ago so why have you been without one all this time"

He frowned and looked down "I…I was kidnapped about two years ago and was recently rescued by Gotham's batman and catwoman" he had to put up a good act for that part

"Oh ok then" she was a bit shocked and felt sorry for asking in the first place

"Were you ever in the US before when your family died?"

"Yes we traveled back and forth between Europe and America"

"How long did you usually stay?"

"About a year or two"

"Did your family own any housing in romania?"

"I do not know I wasn't aware I was born there until a few days ago"

"Are you aware of any known people who want to adopt you"

"Yes I heard the Wayne family wishes to"

She typed in a few things in her computer than asked him to get his social worker back to the window and once she came back with him "His visa has been approved. The visa will be mailed to your office in 3-5 days"

"Alright thank you for your time" she than grabbed Richard and pulled him back to the car to take him back to the center

oOo

had received word that Richard was back from his interview at the embassy so quickly asked a guard for their keys and went to see him in his cell. She already knew that he would still have his dull expression but wanted to hear about it anyway

"So how did it go?" she sat on the bed next to him

"The visa was approved for 3 years. It will be mailed to 's office in 3-5 days"

"That's wonderful news. The wayne can finally start the adoption now" she smiled down at him as he nodded "Should you be a little more enthusiastic"

He twitched the closest he had come to laughing or even smiling in the past two years was a smirk and he doubted that would count because it was against opponents he had killed "Yes I'm sorry I haven't shown much emotion"

"Don't worry I know you must still be a little traumatized from the kidnapping"

"Thank you "

"Well I'll leave you to get some rest I'm sure you can be expecting another letter from bruce or selina wayne" she left him be as she locked the gate back up and went back to her office

He sighed and leaned against the concrete wall beside his bed. He felt like he had been insulting others from the lack of emotion he had given to the people who were kind to him but he wouldn't really help it that was what he had been taught to do for adults unless told otherwise. He couldn't even remember why he had ever laughed or smiled before the court it all seemed meaningless now.

He guessed he would be able to learn once again when he was adopted. He had seen bruce and selina smile and laugh all the time so it would probably rub off on him a bit like the emotionless face rubbed on his from the court.

oOo

The next day Alfred received a call from that she needed Bruce and Selina down at her office to begin the adoption process.

"She said that the young lad passed his visa interview as well" Alfred told them

"That's great!" selian hugged bruce

"We should get going then want to get him out of that center don't we?"

"Right come one!"

Once they arrived at her office

"We can officially start the adoption process his visa will be arriving in about 2 days so I could have this information ready"

"Alright where do we start?" selina asked

"Well you have already filled out a I-600 form and he has been declared an orphan by our systems so.." she looked on her computer "We need to perform a home investigation so that it is approved as a safe environment for a child and you have prepared for his arrival"

"Alright when is the closest time that can be possible?" bruce asked

"I would need a companion with me and I need to look through available workers" she looked through her schedule "I could come by with someone in a few hours it's still pretty early" she looked to the clock to see it was only 7am

"Ok we will prepare for your arrival then"

oOo

Once they got home they checked to make sure a normal child would be safe in their home or mansion in their case.

"All the entrances to the batcave have been locked right?" bruce asked

"Yes the waterfall in the forest will be the only entrance until you unlock it from the inside sir" Alfred assured him

"The liquor cabinets have been lock though I don't know why we even have those since none of even drink" selina put her hands on her hips

"I'll be sure to remove those but I've checked everything else and it's all safe for even a baby to crawl around here"

"Do you plan on turning Richard into a baby?" she lifted an eyebrow

"What no that's not even physically possible from what I know"

"Good"

oOo

Richard was picking at his 'food' in the cafeteria when he was called away to 's office once again. He had been internally happy to leave seeing the food here made him actually miss the food the court had fed him.

"You wished to see me ?" he had to remind himself not to say sir at the end

"Yes you got a letter" she handed him another envelope that said it was from bruce and selina

_Dear Richard,_

_ We heard you passed your medical exam and your visa interview congratulations! You must have been pretty surprised when told you she knew about the 'situation' she's a good friend of Bruce and I she's known him since he was eight years old and she was happy to help. called ahead and asked if we would provide a doctor so we knew we had to provide one for you and thank goodness you passes both your tests. We have already started the adoption process again Janine told us that once the visa arrives she should have all the paperwork ready for the court date, she has already inspected our manor and has approved it as a safe environment but We're sure even if this was a hostile place you would know what not to touch right? She said right before she left the manor that she would set the court date but we should know that the adoption won't be legally finalized until you've been living with us for 6 month but that shouldn't be a problem either. The social worker will notify of you for the court date she didn't tell us when but we're sure she'll call to have us be ready at the court _

_ Love bruce and selina wayne_

He was quite surprised at how fast that had happened it was only a day after his visa was approved but he guessed they really were influences on the business world. Now all he needed was for the court date and he could get out of here

He placed the paper back in the envelope

"What are the updates?" Ms. Rossi asked

" inspected their manor and has approved it as a safe enviroment for a child. She is currently working on the court date for their approval as well"

"That's great I'll be sure to keep a look out for Ms. Russuel to ask about the date alright?"

He nodded

_To be continued_

**I never knew looking for what would be asked during the interview would be so hard. All of the questions I found were for people who were engaged, had children, or were just traveling so I just altered them and put this.**

**I thought it would be funny for the HIV thing I don't know if Richard ever did have kids or not since I have never seen any with Barbra, starfire, or any other girl. I know about Mar'i but that's it.**


	12. Adoption

Adoption

When Bruce and selina arrived at the court house they were surprised that there were a lot of reporters in the lobby. Someone must have leaked information about their adoption case but thankfully the security guards were able to help them past the reporters without much incident. When they stepped into the courtroom they saw Richard was sitting next to his social worker on one of the side tables.

They greeted him with a simple smile and wave and he acknowledged them with a nod. Once they sat down at their table it wasn't long that the judge and bailiff entered the room.

"Good Afternoon" the judge greeted "We are here today on the matter of the adoption of Richard John Grayson. That is you correct?" she turned to the only child in the room

He nodded

was called up to the stand by the Wayne's lawyer

"Would you state your name and position?"

"Janine Russuel, I am a social worker at child protective services"

"And you are the social worker assigned to Richard's case?"

"Yes I was assigned to his case the day after his family died"

"And why was he placed in the Juvenile detention center without any known criminal record" Richard twitched at that criminal statement and selina sent a worried gaze at him

"Well the orphanages were already crowded enough and placing children in the center has always been an option for social workers so it is not illegal"

"I see. you know that Richard was kidnapped over two years ago but recently brought back correct?"

"Of course"

"During that time period were any children in the orphanages adopted or placed with foster parents?"

Janine eyes widened

"Please answer the question " the judge asked

She nodded "Yes some amount were adopted"

The lawyer nodded "So why when Richard was brought back was he once again placed in the center when there was room in the orphanages"

"He seemed dangerous to be placed with other young children in an orphanage" she crossed her arms

"Why would you say that?"

"Because he is obviously different from the last time I saw him. He was a six years old skinny short circus performer but now have you seen him" Richard narrowed his eyes

"I would think that would be from the kidnappers influencing his personality"

"He still has not revealed any information about them so how is it not possible that he had not escaped the center and was off doing who knows what"

The lawyer saw Richard's angered expression "Why don't we move on shall we. Now did the Wayne's manor seem like a suitable living environment for a child"

"Yes there was nothing that he could be harmed by" she huffed

"Was everything working properly? The electricity, plumbing, thermal…"

"Everything was fine it should be expected regarding their financial status"

"Do you know if Richard has had a proper care at the center?"

"He should he gets a proper bed, three meals a day, educational classes, and time in the courtyard"

"Yes but do you know if he eats the meals or if he has been hurt in the past by inmates"

"I wouldn't know"

"Alright what about his clothing I can see from how he's dressed today that he hasn't been given proper clothes" Richard looked down at his white shirt and tan cargo pants to see they were slightly dirty from the rain he hadn't been given another pair yet

"It is not my job to give him clothing. The center is supposed to take care of that"

"Yes I understand that but it is your job to look after him as your case and if you have seen that he has not been properly cared for isn't it your job to see to it he is?"

"I am a very busy person I do not have time to just go and visit him"

"Alright then let's move on. Richard is eligible for adoption yes?"

"Yes the Wayne's have personally paid for a new visa so that he may stay in the states"

"Now would you say that Richard does want to leave the center and be adopted by the wayne's"

"He hasn't really shown any emotion to back that up so he would have to answer that" Richard looked down he was really getting tired about people commenting on his emotionless personality

"Are there any other couples wishing to adopt Richard?"

"No"

"Have you made any plans to move Richard from the center?"

"No"

"If it was not for the Wayne's purpose of adoption would it not be better for Richard to be moved to a therapeutic group home? Given the trauma he has been through witnessing his family's death, being kidnapped for two years, that therapy would be a good option for him?"

"I doubt he would need therapy he should be used to having a rough life being a circus gypsy performer it's in his blood" the lawyer frowned at this

"That's all for this witness, your honor" Ms. Russuel snorted and went back to sit by Richard

Bruce had noticed Richard had been angered by the conversation and was struggling to keep it under wraps, that had already caught the attention of some people in the room but hopefully they wouldn't question it. Bruce was called to the stand next by social services lawyer

" would you tell us how you met Richard?"

He thought back to the night at the circus "I was funding a charity function for Haley's circus and was the guest of honor during the show that night. I had heard a lot about eh Flying Grayson's act hearing they were quite talented acrobats" he looked over to see Richard was gripping his pants "I had seen the grayson's perform when the trapeze wires broke and saw them die when they hit the ground"

"Did you have any contact with Richard that night?"

"Yes I had helped comfort him from experiencing their deaths. I had told him about the similar experience I had with my own parents and helped him to his trailer to pack"

"Why do you wish to adopt Richard?"

"My parents were killed just like his were so I know what it's like to move on from that"

"That is very well Mr. Wayne but having the same experience isn't enough. A child will require stability, consistency, and supervision. What makes you fit to take care of this young boy"

"Well I'm not entirely alone. In addition to my close friends, I reside with my wife selina and our butler Alfred pennyworth who raised me during my childhood"

"That is all, your honor" Bruce moved to sit back next to selina until she was called next up to the stand

"How long had you known Bruce before you got married ?"

"I had known his for a number of years about 4 at least"

"When did you met Richard?"

"I met him the day Bruce told me about his intention to adopt him. We had gone to the center to visit him before he was kidnapped and he was a very sweet boy"

"Why did you into adopt another child when he was kidnapped for all you knew he could have been dead these past two years"

She glared "Because we only had the intention to adopt Richard. We felt it would hurt him if he ever found out that we adopted another child because he was missing"

"How do you feel about the changes in Richard since you last saw him. I have learned that before he was really happy, smiling, and talkative. Now he's emotionless and scared"

"That should be expected from such a traumatic experience. I already knew he wouldn't be the same once he returned but I'm sure we can help him heel from that"

"Do you think Richard will cause any problems in your home?"

"Of course not"

"That is all, your honor" selina got up and went back to sit with Bruce

The social services lawyer turned to the child "I'd like to call Richard Grayson to the stand"

Richard felt everyone's eyes on him so got up from his seat and moved to sit next to the judge. He didn't really know what he was going to be asked but knew he had to keep his temper under control to not cause any problems and rise his head for once

"I'd like to ask you a bit of questions on your backround, if I may" he twitched and sighed "How old are you?"

"I'm nine years old"

"How long were you a performer in Haley's circus?"

He internally took a deep breath "I had been trained in acrobatics since I was able to walk. I joined the act when I was four years old but had practiced with the net so I would not be hurt"….'probably to make sure I was alive for the court'

"Where did you live in the circus?"

"In a trailer. It was rather small but sufficient enough to house us"

"Did you ever live anywhere else?"

"No'

"From records it says that you were born in Bucharest, Romania. Did your parents own any property there?"

"Not that I know of"

"Were you and your parents close?" Richard twitched and looked down

Bruce and selina got a worried glance at him hoping he wouldn't explode

"Yes. We were a family act so that meant we had to train together…..D...dad..Taught me about the trapeze and acrobatics….and…M-mom..Kept up my school work to make sure I was well educated. I was always kept busy with my…family" he felt sick just calling them that

"You met the night they were killed correct"

"Yes"

"How did you come to know Mr. Wayne and selina"

"I had met Mr. Wayne after the accident he helped me to my trailer and talked for a while before I was taken to the police station. I met both of them once more at the center when they came to visit me"

"Yes the same day you were kidnapped correct"

He nodded

"Where were you during your kidnapping Richard?"

He flinched "Objection!" the Wayne's lawyer yelled

"Why is that?" the judge asked

"The kidnapping does not have anything to do with the adoption case"

"Yes but the Wayne's should know where the boy has been all this time shouldn't they"

"Correct proceed" the judge nodded

The wayne's looked at each other already knowing about where he had been and wondered what Richard would say knowing he couldn't reveal being an assassin

He sighed "I am not aware of where I was during the time period"

"You had been gone for quite some time. Your saying you were never told where you were?"

He shook his head

"Care to explain why"

"The night I was taken I was unconscious after being taken from the cell. I woke up in darkness which was later revealed to be a basement of a compound and I had never left there until I was rescued"

"Do you know who your kidnappers were?"

"No"

"Now Richard you have changed a lot since you returned. You have scaring on your wrists, neck, and ankles where did those come from?"

He looked away "I had been chained to the walls and floor so that I could not escape. And had a shock collar for punishment if I attempted to"

"I see." he didn't look convinced "Your speech has also gotten quite formal now why would that be?"

Apparently everyone had been suspicious of that since they were all staring at him "The people wanted me to be the perfect 'child' so they taught me to speak formally to the point I had forgotten to speak any other way"

"Why about your newly grown muscles?" he looked to the small muscles on his arms "You say you had been kept chained so I doubt you could have moved very much"

He shook his head "I was only chained when kept alone. They had been taken off when they wanted me to exercise to grow my muscles with the shock collar on my neck they knew I could not escape"

"I see. now I have received reports from the center's infirmary that there have been multiple boys injured by you so how do we know you will not harm anyone when you are out"

He narrowed his eyes at him "If you had done your research thoroughly you would know that when I had first arrived at the center two years ago I had been injured by those same inmates but was never helped. Now that I have returned I have used my skills to defend myself when they once again tried to harm me I do not intend to critically injure them"

"Alright then no further questions" Richard got off the stand and went back to sit by

"We'll have a lunch break, folks" the judge eyed Richard "Come back at 1:30.

/time skip/

All the people were in their correct places when the judge walked back into the room.

"Although the boy Richard has gone through some traumatic experiences I see that social services has not cared for the boy properly seeing that he has malnourished a bit, harmed by the inmates of the juvenile detention center, and not properly clothed. Mr and Mrs Wayne seem very caring and suitable parent figures for a child to have. I have decided to grant the Wayne's legal custody of Richard making him an official member of your family" he turned to the social worker for the adoption papers "Please give me the order to sign"

sighed and went up and gave him a folder with the papers inside

The judge signed the papers then handed them to the clerk "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for your impassionate efforts on behalf of this child. Mr and Mrs wayne you can expect to have Richard at your manor soon once he has packed up his belonging at the center"

oOo

"Congratulations Richard I'm so happy for you" hugged Richard once he had all his belongings together at the entrance

"Thank you " he nodded

"Well you should get going don't want to keep your new family waiting Richard Wayne" she smiled as he nodded once again and was taken by and impatient to their mansion

After a long ride, silent drive the car pulled up to the black gates of Wayne mansion with a giant W engraved into the middle of the gate. This caught his attention, he had never really seen the mansion so he was surprised that this place was going to be his home.

Once the gates opened he was a yard with bright green grass, a stone driveway in a semi circle leading right to the entrance of the giant mansion. There was a marble fountain in the yard and a few stairs leading up to the doors. He hadn't stopped taking in the scene even after Ms. Russuel got him out of the car and hadn't really noticed when she knocked on the door and Alfred opened up to let him in as she left

"Ah, you must be young Master Richard" the man had a friendly British accent "My name is Alfred pennyworth, I am the butler to the Wayne family, it is very nice to meet you" he held out his hand

Richard shook it and felt a bit comfortable with him going to be there too cause he could feel a bit odd if he was the only one with an accent in this house. He looked around to see the giant circular foyer just where they were all standing

Bruce and Selina let him take in the scene before they moved on and looked around as well although it was nothing special to them since they had lived there for years already. The ceiling had a large chandelier above them and a staircase up to the second floor that was on the far end of the room, there were fancy pillars holding it up from the bottom floor. The floors were made of black pure marble as red carpet cover the stairs except for the middle that had a circular marble with a capital W in the middle and the left and right were hallways leading to different parts of the mansion.

"Why don't we show you to your room?" selina looked down at him as he nodded and followed them up the stairs still looking around as they past some statures and paintings. They stopped at a door on the third floor that was made of ebony wood

Bruce grabbed the doorknob and they turned around to him "This is your room" they let him go in first

He hesitated at first but stopped immediately after taking a few steps inside and observed his surroundings. The room was very large, the door to the room was on the far right side of the room, the walls were dark blue and the floor had carpet instead of marble. On the wall opposite from them there were two small windows looking out to the yard and on another wall was a large window with a built in lounge seat. On the wall opposite from the bed was a build in fireplace, above it was a large flat screen Tv some feet back was a comfy looking couch with a small table in front of it. The bed was against the back wall and it was a large king size, the frame and tall headboard were made of black ebony, the blankets were mainly dark blue and had intricate designs on it. On both sides of the bed were nightstands with lamps on them then a door next to both of them his eyes widened at the large fancy room and thought they might be in the wrong room

Bruce smiled down at him seeing his expression "The bathroom is trough that door" he pointed the far door beside the right nightstand "And that one is a closet" he pointed to the left door

He nodded in acknowledgement and continued to inspect the room seeing a large dresser by the windows and a desk.

Selina saw he might want to be alone for a bit "Why don't we let you settle in just so you know our room is right across the hall ok" he nodded as they left and he heard the door close

He let out a huge breath he didn't even know he was holding he was completely shocked at the room that was supposed to be his. He walked to the closet to see it was a walk-in filled with designer clothes on two large racks on both sides with a mirror on the end, he took a once hanger off the rack too look at a fancy v neck shirt and felt it was silky. He quickly closed to look back around the room and as he was looking around his eyes widened at what was sitting on top of the fireplace

He walked over to get a better look and picked it up to see it was….his stuffed elephant zitka but how did it get here, he then remembered from selina's letter that his stuff had been brought here two years ago so of course they would have it. He felt silly having a stuffed animal now though but his gaze turned to the toy looked at its plastic black eyes, gray fabric, and the tiny hat on its head. He sighed and set it back down on the fireplace moving away from it to move to check out the bathroom. He froze again once he opened the door it was as huge as three cells from the center he thought it would just be big enough for him to walk a few steps inside but there was enough room for a lot of people in here.

The walls and floor where made of blue and white tiles. On the left there was large marble sink, with wooden drawers and cabinets underneath and a large mirror on the wall. On the other side was a white toilet with a rug underneath it and another in front of the glass door leading to the shower that seemed to have its own little room. There were blue towels hanging on hangers from the wall next to it and he looked over to see a oval shaped bathtub build into the wall with small tiles surrounding it.

He had known that rich people sometimes had separate showers and bathtubs in one bathroom but he had never guessed that he would have one. To say he was shocked would be an understatement he knew wit would take a while before he got used to this life of luxury and then there was still the rest of the mansion

'I've only seen the foyer and hallway so far I can only guess what the rest looks like' he then remembered that they were virilities' as well and wondered if they would tell him about the legendary batcave

He wondered if he should go and look for Bruce or Selina but didn't know if he should he didn't know if they had to come and get him or if he was free to roam around here. After a bit of debating he decided to stay in the room so he went over and sat on the couch and it was extremely soft and it was a weird sensation for him. He looked up at the large flat screen Tv then to the remote on the table but decided against it since he had never really watched Tv so wouldn't even know what to watch.

oOo

"How is Master Richard taking his new home?" Alfred asked once the couple came back down

"I would say he's pretty overwhelmed by everything but that is understandable, he's experienced something like this before" selina told him

"It is quite shocking for any sort of child"

"We're just letting him settle in up there then let him come down for dinner later"

"Are you sure that is wise sir?" Alfred lifted an eyebrow

"What do you mean?"

"I do not think he will leave his room unless one of you goes to retrieve him remember sir he was not allowed to do anything without permission from his elders his entire life"

"Oh right we'll have to explain to him things will be different here" selina looked to bruce "When will dinner be ready so I can get him?"

"It should be ready within a half an hour but by the time I have everything ready you should be settled so why not go and retrieve him now?"

"I'll do it I'm sure he's gotten over the shock by now" Selina offered and went back up the stairs and once she opened the door she saw Richard was sitting quietly on the couch "Richard?"

He lifted his head and looked over to her waiting for what she was going to say "Why are you just sitting in here?"

"I do not have anything else to do"

"Why didn't you watch the Tv?"

"I have never watched television much in the past so I do not know how to work it or what I would watch?"

"Oh ok well I can show you later but right now it's time for dinner so why don't we go down to the dinner table to eat" he got off the couch and followed her back down the stairs to the dining room

Again he was surprised by the setting. Since it would only be three of them eating he assumed it would be a small circle dining table in a small room but this was a long rectangular table enough to sit over 50 people with a red tablecloth over it, there were painting on the walls again and on the ceiling was another chandelier. 'This is overwhelming' he looked up and down the long table

Selina smiled down at his expression "Were going to sit at the head of the table" she led him to three seats at the head of the table where Bruce was waiting with Alfred.

He looked down at the meal on his plate to see: lasagna, filet mignon, and garlic bread. His eyes widened down at the food

Bruce saw his face "I take it you've never had something like this?" he shook his head "What would you normally have for dinner than?"

He thought back "Not much mostly health food such as vegetarian meals I rarely ate proteins"

"Well if you don't like it I'm sure we can get you something else?" selina asked

"It's fine thank you" he nodded

While they began to eat they talked for a while about what life would be like at the manor for him and he was told all the new freedoms he had and that he didn't need their permission to leave his bedroom or do anything he wanted as long as it wasn't dangerous

"We'll give you a glorified tour of the mansion tomorrow so you can know your way around here alright?" Bruce assured him and he nodded

_To be continued_

**I never know how to end a chapter. He's finally home though and at some point I want him to start calling Bruce and selina mom and dad because they're so caring but I don't want to write where he asks them if he can call them that. I'll probably have him become robin in soon once he's adjusted to the mansion but I'm trying to figure out where that name would come from.**

**Ideas for robin's origin: Miranda and the other kids gave him the name, He got it from the robin hood movie, or Selina sees him on a trapeze and takes mary's place as the one who gave him the name.**


	13. Tour

Tour

Richard woke up at 6:00am by force of habit, He had been so used to waking up so early in the morning for training or to leave his jail cell at the center so wondered if anyone was awake. He hadn't gotten up and decided to lay on the bed facing the door the bed was uncomfortably comfortable since he had been used to either sleeping on a cot, chained, or on concrete. There was a sheet for the bed and a sheet under the thick covers, he had a number of five pillows but only kept two on the bed for sleep.

After a while he decided to get up and shower. He walked over to the door and opened it turning on the light inside. He decided to take a shower then a bath so undressed then put his clothes in the hamper and stepped into the shower opening the glass door first, it took a minute for him to turn on the water because of the amount of buttons 'What could all these buttons be for?'. He finally found the right switches and turned on to the right temperature of water he needed, he took it quickly washing his hair and body, turning the water off, and grabbing a towel off the rack to dry himself. He wrapped the towel around his waist after drying up then went to the closet for clothes, he had always had clothes already prepared for him like the armor, GI, white shirt with cargo pants. He looked amidst the clothes, the shirts were on one side and the pants were on the other; he got a red T-shirt off and a pair of jeans then moved to the drawers and got a pair of boxers with socks to put on.

Once he was fully dressed he opened the door 'Bruce and selina said I could leave the room on my own' he didn't really know his way around the mansion yet but he knew the way to the foyer so decided to head there first. He heard voices as he approached the foyer and then saw it was Bruce talking to Alfred

"I thought they would be happy about the adoption since they kept persisting on it when I told them about the visa"

"They are merely worried about your and the Mrs. Safety sir"

"There's no need to worry about us Richard already said he wouldn't hurt anyone"

"I am sure they are only being caution sir he is a highly trained assassin"

"Yes but I know he never wanted to be an assassin in the first place"

He wondered who they were talking about that didn't trust him with the Wayne family. Maybe close friends but how would they know about the court and then it hit him it was most likely the Justice League that didn't trust him. He had attacked two of their founding members after all, well let them think whatever they want he didn't care about others opinions on him.

"Do you plan to tell Master Richard about the news of Tony Zucco's arrest?"

He froze on the spot he remembered zucco perfectly having only met him twice as the man who murdered the Grayson's

"The police was Richard to testify against him to lock him up for life but I doubt he would do that"

Bruce was right he wouldn't do that why should he, to get justice for the 'family' that had been killed no way. He was actually thankful zucco did it that way he didn't have to live in a world of lies anymore so he wasn't going to lock him up he was going to let him go free.

"Would it not seem suspicious to the police that their own child does not wish to testify against their killer?"

"I'm sure we can come up with a good excuse but it's still up to Richard weather he want to or not"

"Then shall we ask him?" Alfred turned around to see him at the top of the stairs "Would you like to answer the question sir?"

He wasn't really surprised that Alred knew he was there after all he most likely had to keep track of batman and catwomans stealth movements.

"How long were you standing there Richard?" Bruce lifted an eyebrow

"I apologize for eavesdropping. I only heard up to the justice leagues mistrust in me"

"You don't have to apologize you would have a right to know eventually" he frowned when he heard about the justice league comment "And the justice league won't interfere with your life here don't worry I know we can trust you"

"Thank you" He nodded then decided to answer the question "I do not wish to testify against zucco if that is alright"

"Its fine I know why you've chosen that course of action and I am sure we can come up with an excuse for that sir"

He nodded in thanks

"Now then why don't we go eat breakfast then we can start with the tour. I'll go and get selina she's still asleep but she can get ready fast" bruce headed up the stairs leaving him alone with the butler

"How about I show you the kitchen while we wait?" Alfred asked and he nodded

The kitchen was a large rectangular room with double doors that could be pushed in or out. It looked like a kitchen that belonged in a restaurant having a large refrigerator, large sick, dishwashers, metal counters along the room with pot and pans hanging from the top of them and some dry ingredients on the counters. He saw a stove and an oven separated, some cooking tools hanging on the walls from the counters next to them and some other machines he really didn't know were.

"The reason it's so large is because of the parties held here for Master bruce and Miss selina. We hire cooks to prepare enough food for everyone who attends"

'Oh that makes much more sense' he was about to question the reason it was so large because surely he didn't use all this for three meals a day. He wondered what they were having for breakfast since he didn't see anything but the meal last night for dinner had been delicious it tasted foreign to him at first having never ate something like that before but knew that would be regular now

"What would you like for breakfast Master Richard?" Alfred asked

His eyes widened he didn't know how to respond to that "I will be fine with the meals you would serve Bruce and Selina"

"Alright then"

"What are you doing in here?" Selina asked as she and Bruce walked in the double doors

Bruce had suggested this might be where they were having not seen them in the foyer when he returned

"I was showing Master Richard the kitchen seeing as he is having a tour of the manor today"

"Oh right you would be the right person to show him this room" Bruce smiled

"Now why don't all of you go to the dining room while I prepare your meal?"

"Sure Alfred come on Richard" Selina gently took Richard's hand and led him to the large table from the previous night

Bruce sat at the head of the table once again while Selina and Richard sat across from each other on the first seats of the table. "So what do you think of the manor from what you've seen so far?"

"It's overwhelming to say the least"

"Don't worry Richard you'll get used to it I know I had to when I married Bruce" he nodded

They talked for a while about other things until Alfred came in a few minutes later setting down three plates of food and three cups of drinks.

He looked down at his plate to see: three stacked pancakes, two slices of bacon, and some scrambled eggs with a cup of orange juice

"I thought you might like a more homey meal master Richard" Alfred placed a small cup of syrup next to his plate as he nodded

Bruce and Selina explained to him everything that they would be showing to him on the tour while they ate and he had to say that the syrup tasted really sweet he knew it was unhealthy but felt it would be rude if he didn't eat it. His favorite part was the bacon tasting the crunch of it as he chewed it and swallowed it.

"Did you want to join us Alfred?" Bruce asked once they were done eating

"No thank you sir I'm sure you and Miss Selina will be enough to show him your own home" once Selina moved with Richard toward the foyer he spoke up "Be sure to take it slow sir, this is the first time he's begun to interact with us since he's arrived I fear that exposing to much will overwhelm him"

"Right" bruce nodded in agreement then headed off after his wife and son

"The floors are made of white and black marble but their easily replacable so don't worry if you happen to crack some of it" Selina was apparently telling Richard about the architecture of the foyer although he didn't seem very interested

"Are we ready to check out the rest?" bruce asked once he walked up to them

"Sure" Selina answered and Richard nodded once they turned to him

"You've already see the way to the dining area from here" The couple led him to their living area "Here's the living room we usually use"

He really shouldn't be surprised at this point but it was still breathtaking. The walls were made of ebony wood and the couch, chairs, and seats were made of leather. There were expensive antique rugs around the floor beneath his feet, some vases with flowers along the nightstands, a fireplace, bookcases, and picture frames.

"If you go down that hall you see a few other rooms" he saw Selina pointing down the hall to the right "there's a ballroom and some other rooms we rarely ever use anyway then a door to the outside, we'll show you the backyard later."

He nodded and they went and showed him another room that was a home theater, a large screen on the wall with a u shaped couch a few feet away from it. A popcorn machine and a glass case holding an abundance of movies inside

"We can also order movies from the television" Bruce informed him

He doubted he would use this room any time soon though because first of all he didn't even know how to work the TV in his room. He had only ever seen TV's in business places with a channel already selected

"I'm still going to teach you how to work the TV doesn't worry" Selina patted him on the back

They then took him to an indoor pool, the floor was made of tiles around the large oval shaped pool, there was a bathroom in there and showers, small windows at the top of the walls, and some chairs with tables.

"We also have a pool outside but this one is for during the winter time" Bruce watched as Richard looked down into the water "Can you swim?"

"Yes" he nodded the court had taught him to swim at 2.20 m/s and hold his breath for at least eight minutes he had drowned a few times while trying that though

They showed him to a balcony on the second floor that showed the entire front yard and you could see most of Gotham from it. Then to a personal spa they had

"I'm mostly the only one who uses this room" Selina shrugged

He looked around to see a steam room, massage tables, mud baths, foot tubs, nail tables, and hair dryers. 'This would be a place for females' he doubted a boy would use any of this stuff other than the steam room

Then a large garage filled with a lot of cars such as porches, mustangs, limos, and some sports cars. 'Who needs this many cars?'

They then showed him a game room with an abundance of video games, a dance machine, guitar hero, and car racing machines, motorcycle machines, skee ball, 3D games from the helmets, and sports games. His eyes widened at this 'Why would two adults have something like this?'

"This room was especially made for you" Selina looked at his shocked expression "I know it may take a while to be used but it'll be here when it's ready"

A large library was shown next that looked more like a small public library, there were about 10 bookshelves on each side of the room, in the middle were a few tables and at the end was another fireplace.

"We heard you like to read a lot so you should come to this room quite often" Bruce saw how he was looking at the titles of the books

He saw some of his favorites here: To kill a mockingbird, Tale of two cities, The Kite Runner, Hamlet, and The Great Gatsby.

Next was a large gym. He saw several weight lifting tools, mats, cycling bikes, treadmills, ellipticals, but his eyes widened when he saw the trapeze set up on the back with a trampoline under it.

Bruce and Selina had completely forgotten about that they had made sure to remove anything that had reminders of the circus that would cause bad memories and sent a worried glance at the boy

Richard looked down even though the Grayson's had taught him acrobatics for the court he didn't hate that he learned the trapeze. He actually enjoyed being on it even thought it had been so long since he used it and it didn't hurt to be extremely flexibly at times.

"Richard?" Selina asked

"I'm fine don't worry even though it's a reminder of the circus I don't hate the trapeze I liked being in the air so thanks"

Bruce sighed in relief "Well then shall we move on?" they both nodded

The last part of the tour was the backyard, they went through some glass doors to see a patio with outdoor furniture and grill by a oval shaped table. After the patio were a few stairs leading to a small garden with a fountain in the middle and tiles as a floor, to the right he saw a rectangular shaped pool with tiles surrounding it, tables with umbrellas, and chairs around it. He also noticed a hot tub nearby and to the left was a built in pond Japanese style it looked really beautiful. By a door to the inside he saw a basketball court and to the far back he could make out a small glass greenhouse.

"Is there anything else you would like to see that we might have missed don't be afraid to ask" Selina assured him

He struggled to at first but then remembered they said there would be no secrets between them "Is your base for the batman and catwoman close?" he finally asked

Bruce smiled "It's closer than you think"

"Come on we'll show you" Selina took his hand and they all went straight to bruce's study

He lifted an eyebrow at first when he saw bruce walk up to an old grandfather clock but when it moved his eyes widened

"Come on" Selina smiled as they led him down the flight of stairs straight to the cave

He was truly amazed at the sight just like Selina had been when she saw the batcave as well. He looked down to each floor inspecting everything that was in there and he looked up when he heard noises to see live bats hanging from the ceiling

"They don't bite" bruce assured him

"That should complete our tour right?" Selina asked and he nodded not seeing what else would be on the tour

"How do you like it?" bruce asked

"It is very fancy and etiquette meeting the standards of your publicity"

"Well it's your home now too you know" he nodded knowing he would have to get used to this

"Now that we've shown you around and told you about us how about you tell us a little about yourself?" Selina asked making his eyes widen

There wasn't really much to tell about himself that they didn't already know and he liefted an eyebrow at them thinking they should know that.

"How about you tell us about your old stuffed elephant in your room?" Bruce offered

"It's just a toy I had gotten as a reminder of my elephant at the circus zitka. i was able to get one from storage and name it after her" he shrugged

"Ah I see you must have spent a lot of time with zitka then" Selina smiled when he nodded "What are some things you like to do in your free time I'm sure you have something?"

He thought about it for a moment "I do enjoy reading most of the time…..mechanical engineering too.."

"Mechanical engineering?" bruce lifted an eyebrow

He nodded "Back in the court they taught me to make and repair some of the machines we used for training and I did enjoy the process of it"

"Wow impressive" bruce smiled he took months to even make a computer disk when he first began his hero life but he had probably learned that in a shorter amount of time

"Thanks" he nodded

All of a sudden the zeta tubes on the edge of the cave light up and they all turned when the light shined in their eyes

_RECOGNIZED: SUPERMAN 01_

When superman walked in he was shocked to see Richard in the cave with bruce and Selina

"Selina why don't you take Richard upstairs and have him try one of alfred's famous cookies" Bruce smiled to them

"Alright come on Richard" he nodded and let her take his hand going back up the stairs

"What are you doing here?" bruce asked

"You already told him your secrets?" clark's eyes widened

"He's known since he was a the hall we told him there"

"What!"

"It's none of your concern anyway clark"

"I'm just being cautious ok your guys should be too I mean he was a killer and attacked you remember?"

"Of course but I know he was forced to do that"

"He seemed pretty friendly with them if you ask me" he muttered but Bruce heard it and glared at him

"Weren't you supporting his adoption along with the rest?"

"We are were just….we've been having second thoughts about it that's all I mean letting a trained assassin that can kill you in to your house may be dangerous so I thought that you should take repercussions for it"

"He already said he wouldn't hurt anyone"

"Alright it's just going to take some getting used to that's all are you planning to home-school him then"

"No we havent talked about htat yet but we have decided to send him to a private school"

"What?!"

"What?"

"He'll be around hundreds of kids he could hurt without you or Selina or Alfred there to tell him no wouldn't it be better to home-school him first"

"He would need to go eventually clark"

"Yes but once he's gotten hat killer instinct out of him"

"He doesn't have a killer instinct"

Clark decided to change the subject "Has he told you anything about member of the court of owls?"

"Why would he do that"

"'why would he do that he asks'" Bruce glared as he continued "Lantern just came up with the idea that what if he's working with the court and this is all a set-up to get to the justice league"

"The court left him to die"

"Maybe they knew you were close by and would save him you never know Bruce"

"Look I'm through talking about your assumptions if you can't accept Richard then Selina and I will just leave as well"

"What?! You would leave because of this"

"Yes" he glared

"Ok wait, has he told you one thing about the court?"

"Only that they taught him mechanical engineering and how to swim"

"He may be hiding secrets then"

"We haven't even asked about the court so that may be why he hasn't said anything"

"What are you waiting for then. I'll look at this from your point of view what if the talons find out he's alive and come back for him"

Bruce had to admit Clark had a good point there "They disbanded I'm sure they don't have a way to contact each other"

"Then why don't you ask Richard I'm sure he would know if they have communicators"

Bruce looked away he really didn't want to bring up the court to him because he might bring up bad memories

oOo

"The Tour is over Miss Selina?" Alfred asked once they walked back into the kitchen

"Yes we showed him the batcave last but Clark showed up and Bruce wanted us to leave"

"Ah I see" Alfred nodding in agreement with the man he knew the league didn't trust Richard

"Do you want to try one of Alfred's cookies Richard?" Selina asked looking down at the boy

"I have never had cookies" he confessed

"Well now's a good time to try it" she walked over to a jar on the counter and got a chocolate chip cookie out then handed it to Richard

He took the round snack in his hand and inspected it for a bit. "Try it" Selina smiled as he nodded and brought the cookie up to his mouth and took a small bite. He was surprised by the soft mushy taste of it in his mouth as he swallowed the bite

"Do you like it Master Richard?" Alfred smiled at him seeing his expression and his nodding

"You're free to have at least five don't want to spoil your lunch or dinner" he nodded again

"Come on I think it's time I show you the art of television" Selina led him back up to his room to the couch. She pulled out a small drawer on the table and got out a piece of paper then handed it to him

He looked at it to see it had different numbers on it from 1-500 with genres listed next to it and the names of channels. "You use this remote and push in the number of what channel you want to watch so why don't you try it?" she handed him the remote

At least he was smart enough to know how to turn it on and it was currently on a gossip channel like tmz

"It other news the famous billionaire family known as the Wayne's have recently adopted a young boy by the name of Richard Grayson although his name has been changed to Richard Wayne now. What do you make of this Joyce?" the anchorman asked his co-worker

"I have to say I am surprised I would think that the couple would want to have a child of their own instead of adopt a child. Don't get me wrong I think it's wonderful that they've given him a roof over his head but why pick a child from the circus he can't possibly be suitable for the wealthy life can he"

"He is a troubled kid from what I've heard being traumatized by a death and kidnapping if the Wayne's don't send him back to social services they'll probably ship him off to some boarding school in another country"

"Why don't we save TV for another time" Selina put on a fake smiled and took the remote to turn it off seeing Richard's shocked expression. "You shouldn't pay attention to people like that they're only trying to give a good show to they're viewers I'm sure they don't really mean it"

He gave a weak nod although not really believing her

Selina noticed that as well "You said you like to read right why don't we go back to the library so that you can read some good books" she offered and he agreed

As they were walking toward it they met up with Bruce

"Clark left?" Selina asked

"Yes where were you headed off to?"

"I thought Richard may want to read some books so I was taking him back to the library"

Bruce turned to him "Is it alright if I borrow Selina for a minute I need to talk to her" he nodded "You can go ahead to the library thought you know the way right?" he nodded again and walked down the hall out of sight

"What's wrong?" Selina asked sending a worried expression to her husband

"Clark brought up a good point about the court of owls that I just can't shake. He said that what if the court found out Richard was alive and came back for him"

"But they're gone aren't they how would they know?"

"They could have ways and Clark kept insisting I ask Richard if he knows if they have ways of communicating with each other if they happened to disband"

Selina realized the problem now the only way to find out was through Richard but if they asked him he might have a nervous breakdown "Well he is good at hiding his emotions maybe we can ask indirectly or something"

"You sure that's a good idea?" he lifted an eyebrow

"We can just explain that it's for his protection we want to make sure he's absolutely safe from anything that might come back to haunt him"

Bruce thought about it for a moment but then realized that Richard knew they cared about him and only had his best interest at heart

"There is something else too that happened while I was teaching him how to work the Tv" Bruce lifted an eyebrow "it turned on to the worst possible channel with the worst possible topic" she shook her head "it was a gossip channel talking about the adoption and how they think we're going to ship him off the a boarding school or send him back to CPS"

"He knows we wouldn't do that"

"Yes I know it's just the expression on his face when he saw it"

"Well we can just explain it when we ask about the court"

oOo

Richard had found one of his favorite books 'Moby Dick' he actually only read it because it had his old nickname on it at first but once he read the story he liked it. So he sat down at one of the tables to read, he had already been on the fifth page when Bruce and Selina walked in.

"Richard we wanted to ask you something" Selina asked as they sat down on the other side of the table and he motioned for them to continue "We only doing this for your safety….but we wanted to know something about the court"

His eyes widened at this but stayed where he was letting them continue. Bruce spoke up "We wanted to know if you knew whether or not the talons could contact each other even though their disbanded?"

He thought about it for a moment but that situation had never happened before to the court so he doubted they'd have a way to communicate "I am not aware of any communication plan between the talons they had planned for me to perish in the fire so they did not reveal any information to me"

"Wouldn't the head of the court have a plan stashed away somewhere for this kind of scenario?"

"He would but I am sure it would have been destroyed in the fire if his office was not protected from the fire"

"Ok thank you Richard that was really helpful"

He knew it was time to confess about his relationship with cobb "There is something I wish to confess about the leader of the court"

They turned to him lifting an eyebrow

"I was not aware of this until I first arrived at the court but when he explained the contract with the circus he also revealed…..that he was my…great-great grandfather from john Grayson's side" he looked down not wanting to see their faces

The couple was shocked by the news to say the least that meant that Richard did have one living family member in the world but they knew he had left him to die so he obviously didn't care about him as well.

Selina couldn't find what to say "That is pretty shocking" but then smiled "But I know you don't care for him do you?" he shook his head no

"I am fearful that he will learn that I am alive"

"What was his name? Maybe I can find out where he is and keep track of him" bruce asked

"William Cobb" he answered

"Alright thank you Richard that really helps a lot"

_To be continued_

**I wanted the league to be kind of like superman was when he first met superboy like they knew he existed but wanted to avoid him at all costs fearing something from them. I actually wanted robin to be like zatanna was in the team only helping on missions he was needed on but still going to the cave to work on mechanics for the team's training cause the league would still be a little cautious but not as much as they were now.**

**I did have an idea at first when I began this story that I should make catwoman into Batwoman and robin into Black Bat so they could be the bat family of Gotham but I would need a lot of supporters for that.**


	14. New friends

New friends

Bruce sat in front of the bat computer looking up research on William Cobb. He had learned that William's father had died in a bridge collapse and his mother had worked in a textile plant but couldn't support the both of them. Then one day while William was juggling in the streets he had saved a man from getting robbed and that man had offered him a job in the circus. He had switched to juggling knives instead and over the years the audience came to love him.

Once the circus was back in Gotham he had fallen in love with a girl named Amelia who loved him in return so began dating but Amelia's father didn't see him fit to see his daughter and banned him from ever seeing her again. Although William had gotten Amelia pregnant before leaving and soon he disappeared probably joining the court of owls. The circus owner at the time was Nathaniel Haley.

He looked up another report of Amelia's son having disappeared in a break in as well. William had most likely kidnapped him and soon after that a Grayson appeared in the circus.

"Find anything?" Selina asked coming down into the cave

"Yes William was a poor child that got an offer to join the circus. He got a girl named Amelia pregnant and the child joined the circus as well becoming the first Grayson"

Selina let the information sink in "What happened to Amelia?"

"Amelia's father planned to marry her off to a second cousin of her's but William had learned of this and ended of killing them both. He must have gone off the lead the talons after that"

"Have you been able to locate him?"

"No, he's not even legally alive. I don't know where he or the other talons would have gone"

"Well I'm sure we'll be able to protect Richard I mean they disbanded because they were threatened by the league and now that he's with the league they'll probably leave him alone right?"

"Right…..where is he anyway?"

"He just went up to go to bed so I came to see when you were heading up as well"

"I have work in the morning so I need to get some sleep"

"You know the school year begins in a few weeks" Selina wanted to bring up that topic

"Yes Clark asked about that too. He was afraid Richard may attack or kill some of his classmates if left alone"

"What!" Selina yelled but quickly calmed herself "So do you have a plan for his education I already know we've talked about private school but he need to recover first"

"I was looking into Gotham Academy they have a good educational system but we can ask if he wants to be home-schooled for a while"

"We saw his scores from the juvenile detention center for a placement test he's smart enough to be a 6th grader so I think he'll want a challenge"

oOo

"Mr. Wayne" Ms. Peters greeted him as he got to the top floor of Wayne enterprises "I see you made it out alive"

"Don't those reporters need a permit to do things like that?" bruce sighed thinking back to the large crowd of reporters blocking the garage and entrance. This is the first time any of them have been in public since the court adoption so he guessed they wanted their story

"Well you can't really blame them. They're interested in getting an exclusive on your newest family member. So much in fact that one at least one of them disguised themselves and snuck in but we figured them out and got rid of them don't worry" she rolled her eyes before continuing "And is waiting for you in your office"

"Thanks" he saw she was holding back a bit of excitement "Well go ahead"

"Congratulations! I knew you could be a big softy for children he must really lighten the mood in your household. I haven't been this happy for you since you got married to Selina"

"They're both coming over for lunch later so maybe you'll be able to meet him" he left and walked to his large office where Lucius was sitting in one of the guest seats "You wanted to see me lucius?"

"Everyone knows the basics…only what has been told by the reporters though which is only half the story. But now that you come back to the world of society…..How's he taken it?"

Bruce sighed as he sat down on his chair behind his desk, he didn't know what he was supposed to say because Richard was still recovering "He's…pretty overwhelmed by his new home"

"That should be expected. He spent the first six years of his life in a trailer, the next two in cells, and it's suddenly changed to a large mansion fit for royalty" he shrugged "That's mostly why the media is going crazy….families all over the place are baffled by this"

"To what end?"

"Well, one of the richest couples in the entire world has suddenly adopted a child out of the blue…..most people are wondering why you didn't just have a child of your own because their rooted to the ways they see society. Rich families do need heirs to leave their fortune too but now that you've adopted a son that opinion is out the window"

"Are you planning to make the boy your heir? It is up to you and Selina"

"We hadn't really thought about that he's still getting used to the mansion itself and has been pretty quiet…last night we were talking about his education options" But now that the topic came up he started to question if he would leave his fortune to Richard in their will

"I'm sure he'll start opening up in time. So when does the public get to meet the famous Richard wayne?"

"We don't want to expose him to that kind of chaos yet but Alfred is driving Selina and Richard over here for lunch in about two hours…..although he might be a bit shocked by those reporters outside"

"While we wait why don't we get down to business then unless you have something else to do?"

"No I'm fine how about we start with the tech"

"Sure"

oOo

Richard was still trying to get used to sleeping in such a choosy bed so once he woke up he got right out of the covers and slid over to the closet to change. He took off his shirt and his pants then selected a long sleeved blue shirt and black pants.

He walked out of his room and walked back down to the foyer he looked around some more to see Selina and Alfred in the living area

"Hello Richard I see your awake already' Selina greeted him as he nodded

"Master bruce had to work today but I will be taking you and Miss Selina to his office for lunch is that alright?" he nodded not seeing anything wrong with that "Now I believe that my bagels are done how about we have a little snack first"

"Sure Alfred lead the way" Selina agreed

Alfred got the bagels out of the oven just in time seeing them come out nice and steamy "Now we have strawberry, grape, and butter which would you prefer?"

He opened his mouth to reply but realized he had never tried any of this stuff either so wouldn't know where to start but he had, had grapes before so "Grape is fine"

"Of course

"Why don't we have a seat at the table over there?" Selina pointed to a two seat table at the edge of the kitchen "We can stay here and keep Alfred company" he nodded

Once Alfred was done with the bagels he handed them to Selina and Richard letting them eat their snacks "Now, after were finished it will almost be time to head to master bruce's office"

"Oh right I need to change in to proper attire too" Selina stood up realizing she was still in her sleep ware and rushed off to change

"This will be your first time in public master Richard?" Alfred asked

He nodded he had only been out during the night with the talons and had only left the center to get the requirements for the visa. He had been a little nervous about meeting other people he didn't really know but he should get used to that by now

Alfred had gone to the garage to get one of the cars while Selina prepped Richard for the public

"Are you ready Richard?" Selina asked while helping adjust his sweater and he nodded "I should warn you bruce called earlier that there are reporters around the building so we're not gonna take a limo this time"

He nodded he had been mobbed by reporters in his flying Grayson days for interviews on his training but even though it had been so long he felt he could handle it

Selina saw Alfred pull up in one of their more basic cars outside so took Richard's hand "Come one then" and led him to the car, she had decided to sit with him in the back seat but once they arrived at wayne enterprises they saw it was going to be hard getting through

"My word" Alfred gaped

"What's wrong?" Selina asked looked out the window along with Richard to see a lot of reporters in the garage as well being handled by police. Some of the paparazzi's vans must have recognized their car because they ended up running into them

"Are you alright back there?" Alfred asked

"Were both fine" Selina saw Richard nod

His eyes widened by the large crowd of people with camera's and thought they had all lost their minds 'can these reporters act like civilized humans for once'

"Don't worry the windows are dark on the outside so they can't see inside the car" Selina assured him and they saw the crowd being pushed to the outside by the police although just about 10 of them were left behind

"Master Bruce is expecting you" Alfred told them

Selina saw the few reporters left behind so got an idea and opened a hatch in the car to pull out a small cover. He lifted an eyebrow wondering what they would want with that "We don't want to expose you to the media just yet so we have to keep your face hidden until we know the court wont know your alive"

His eyes widened in realization before Selina threw the blanket over his head cover him down to his knees "What is the amount of time I have to be under here?"

"Just until we get to the elevator" she assured him then opened her door taking his hand and leading him outside. Since he couldn't see she took his shoulders and led him throw the small crowd of reporters, he could see a few flashed throw the blanket and yelling before he stepped he looked down to see the floor of the elevator and heard the doors close so he took the blanket off his head his hair was now a mess from the so he ran his hand through it to get the static out of it.

"Well that's finally over" Selina sighed as she folded the blanket back up

oOo

Bruce had gotten lucius to call the police so that they could clear up the reporters for causing a disturbance and had been pacing in the top floor lobby when he heard the ding of the elevator and Selina stepped out with Richard

"You made it out too" bruce sighed

"Yeah all in one piece"

"Are you alright? Bruce asked Richard

"It was unusual but not very surprising" he answered

"We'll be staying here for at least an hour so we can order some food while we wait" Selina told him and he nodded

"There are a couple of people I'd like you to meet" bruce told him and he nodded again and he led them to meet Ms. Peters "Richard this is Ms. Peters she's my secretary, Ms. Peter's this is Richard"

"It's nice to meet you Richard" Ms. Peters offered her hand and he shook it replying with 'likewise' "Those reporters weren't mean were they?"

"The reporter's that hit our car was surprising"

"Someone hit the car" Bruce was shocked "While you were in it?"

"I'm sorry was I not supposed to say anything" Richard cringed

"No it's alright Richard don't worry" Selina assured him "Yes Bruce it was one of their van's that hit the side"

"Did they damage anything?" Bruce asked

"Nothing really just a small scratch" Selina and he sighed knowing the opportunity to sue was out the window

"Let's go to my office so we can get something to eat" bruce led them both to his office where lucius was waiting for them "Richard this is Lucius Fox he handles the financial business here. Lucius this is Richard"

"It's nice to meet you Richard" he shook his hand and Richard gave a small greeting "I hope you don't mind me asking but how old are you exactly?"

"I'm 9"

"Nine huh?" lucias had wanted to get the age right because he was quite small for that age "I'll leave you all alone so you can have lunch and catch up." He then left closing the door behind him

"Have you two had anything to eat yet?" bruce asked

"Only some bagles Alfred made earlier" Selina answered "So what have you planned for lunch?"

"How about Chinese is that ok?" he asked and they both agreed "What would you like?"

"I can have the gong bao chicken" Selina answered

"Anything is sufficient for me I still have yet to have Chinese" Richard confessed

"Well I think you'll enjoy the Szechuan I'll have Ms. Peters place the order" bruce left the room to inform Ms. Peters

"So how about when we get back home we have a little fun in the gym huh? Selina asked

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well we could test your agility you seem to be pretty stiffed up recently so why don't be stretch your muscles?"

"Sure" he didn't see any harm in that and it would be good to get some exercise, bruce came back into the room telling them the food should be there soon

"Richard there is some things we'd like to discuss" bruce asked and he lifted an eyebrow "The police are getting suspicious on why you don't want to testify against zucco"

His eyes widened why couldn't people just do things without questioning anymore "IS there a solution to the problem?"

"Yes but we need to come up with a good excuse on why first"

He thought about it pretending he actually did care about the Grayson's to find a reason why he wouldn't testify "How about that I don't see the point in it? I could have forgiven him but still hold a grudge against him so that would be the reason I do not want to face him in court"

"That is a good reason I'll tell the police later then" bruce smiled

"Have you been able to locate William?" Richard asked

"No legally he isn't even alive or exists so there wouldn't be any records on his residence but we thought since the court disbanded because they were afraid of the court now that your protected by us they won't come after you" Selina assured him and he nodded

"We also wanted to discuss your education" bruce brought up getting his attention "We were thinking to enroll you in Gotham Acadamy here in the city unless you want to be home-schooled we'd have to find you a tutor and get the books and supplies"

Richard thought about it for a moment

"You can always go next year if you want" Selina assured him

He didn't want to burden them by having to pay for a tutor to come to the house every day, buy all the suspplies, study the curriculum, and everything else "I'm fine with enrolling in the academy it should be a good experience"

"Well if that's what you want we can take a tour of the school once I talk to the principle" bruce told him and he nodded

"Maybe you'll even make a few friends while you're at it"

oOo

The week school had finally started back up bruce and Selina had already enrolled Richard in the academy so today was going to be his first day. That Monday morning everyone was dressed while Richard was finishing up his breakfast omelet

Richard was already dressed in his uniform. The brown pants, black belt, white button up shirt, blue and orange tie, and a blue blazer with the academy's symbol on it. He wanted to have long wrist bands under his shirt just in case he had gym class as well and wore a choker to cover his neck

"Are you ready to go Master Richard?" Alfred asked and he nodded

He stood up and walked to the limo Alfred had pulled up with Bruce and Selina behind him. When they arrived at the school they found a few reporters by the gates. They couldn't avoid them this time so when Bruce and Selina got out they made their way through the crowd with Richard in front of them but blinded temporarily from the flashes

The principle opened the door to his office and led them in sitting on the chairs by his desk "I'm sorry about the reporters they got here pretty early even before I did but this news has caused quite uproar"

"Yes we know it was worse when we confirmed the adoption" Bruce sighed

"Richard scored very high on his placement exams I was quite surprised when I saw them with my own eyes"

"He's a smart one" Selina smiled

"Yes" the principle called in a honor student that helped around the office before class "Barbra would you mind taking Richard to the library while I talk to his parents"

"Sure" Barbra smiled and looked to Richard who stood up and followed her out the door before closing it behind them

"Richard scored very high in all his academics, very well in his language and reading skills beyond his age group, his mathematics are fantastic to say the least. Although by his age we'd like to place him in 6th grade so he doesn't struggle to hard if the curriculum is too difficult" he got out another piece of paper "And there's this" handing it to them

Their eyes widened when they saw the paper it was for a 'Stanford-binet test scores' they looked at the score and they were surprised when they saw the score. A normal 9 year old boy should have a an IQ around 90-100 but Richard scored 155 they knew he was smart but this was ridiculous "IS there anything wrong with such an intelligent child?" bruce asked

"Not at all I just wanted to show you the genius child you have scores"

"Placing him in 6th grade is good enough don't want him to be bullied for his intelligence" Selina commented

"Right we already have his schedule so now we just have to get him to class and he'll be home in 7 hours"

"Alright they went to the library right"

"Yes"

When they arrived t the library they saw Barbra was talking to Richard about her experience in Gotham academy and telling him about the teams they had

"You could probably join the gymnastics team if you want you are an acrobat and I'm sure you would help win a lot of the competitions"

"I haven't even started classes yet" he pointed out

"Oh don't worry once you get used to it you'll want to start extracurricular activities that way you can make more friend and I'll be your friend too if you want"

Before he could respond they came up to the table they were sitting at

"Here is your schedule young man" the principle handed him a piece of paper and he looked at his classes

1A- geometry

2A- English 10

3A- Biology

4A- LSN government

1B- Romanian 1

2B- Art 2

3B- Gym

4B- Computer design

He lifted an eyebrow at the Romanian class knowing it was a language learning class and already knew he would slide right through that since he spoke 100% Romanian but was still practicing on speackign without an accent

"Can I see?" Barbra asked and he handed her the paper

Bruce and Selina were aware of who she was. Barbra Gordon, Commissioner Jim Gordon's daughter. They wondered if Jim had ever told her about Richard before since he had been working on his case when he disappeared

"Cool we have most of our classes together so I can show you around" Barbra smiled and he nodded

"Well we'll leave so you can get to class" bruce announced

"Have a nice day Richard" Selina called back before they left followed by the principle

Barbra checked her watch "Class doesn't start for another twenty minutes" she looked out the window to see some buses had pulled up and were letting students out into the building Richard looked over his shoulder to see them as well "I have heard a lot about you before you know" he lifted an eyebrow at her

"I'm the Commissioners daughter you know him right?" he nodded "Yeah he told me a few things about you how you went missing, was adopted, and now we finally meet here in school" he nodded "Not very talkative are you"

"I apologize I'm not used to talking so much"

"Well you've gotta get used to it your gonna be doing a lot of it now" he nodded

"You must be pretty smart to have geometry already maybe you could join the mathlete's as well and become an honor student like me"

"I have yet to start class"

"We wanna be there early to get the best seats so come on I have geometry too" she grabbed his hand and pulled him running down the halls with him straight to a room while he put up with her excitement . they were the first ones there and the room had two large chalkboards one on the front wall and one on the side, rows of desks lining the room and a few computers on the side. "We have a new student in the building" Barbra told the teacher

The teacher looked over to him "You must be Richard Wayne it's a pleasure to meet you I'm Mr. Muhammad" he shook his hand " I must say I'm honored to have a Wayne in my class" he nodded to him "Now why don't you two sit next to each other you seem to been good friends already"

"Sure" Barbra smiled and led him to two desks right next to each other "Have you ever been to school before?" she asked him

He shook his head "the only similar experience I have had was the classes at the detention center"

"Oh well here you're gonna have a lot of fun trust me" she smiled as he nodded

The only classes Richard didn't have with Barbra were Romanian 1 and computer design so he had been interacting with her all day but she was mostly the one doing the talking. He did say something every now and then just to be polite for her. Somehow most of the kids had heard about his attendance there as well and tried to bully him like at the center but he was able to use self defense basics to subdue them and make sure they left him alone

"Wow I didn't know you were a martial artist" Barbra saw the bullies leave

"They were simply self-defence basics to protect myself"

"Think you can show me a thing or two sometime"

"Perhaps"

_To be continued_

**I like that some people agree with my Bat family idea I really like those names all relating to each other. Batman, Batwoman, and Black Bat I do like the name robin but I don't think that name would fit in with the personality he has. He does become more talkative with Barbra since she's his friend but not much in costume just as much as batman does with everyone. **

**He will be with the team on their mission just like in the show but he just won't interact with them much in the beginning until he gets used to them and because the league is still hesitant about him.**

**I'm more of a chalant fan because I like how good Richard and zatanna look together having some of the same features sorry for the Barbra fans I'm not trying to sound picky with matches in physical features but I would like to write about zatara's reaction to his daughter's crush on him**

**I am going to have him be called dick soon it's just he doesn't want that name to come from him to tell everyone to call him that because that's the name given to him by the circus so im waiting for an opportunity to have someone make his nickname**


	15. The Bat family

The Bat family

"I'll see you tomorrow dick!" Barbra waved as she ran off down the road

He waved bye as well. Barbra had given him his old nickname back and once bruce and Selina had heard about that they had begun calling him that as well except for Alfred since he called him master Richard. He had already been attending Gotham academy for two months and had already joined Barbra as an honor student and today he had gotten a request to join the mathletes though he was still deciding on that.

"Hey Richard!" he heard and turned to see a two boys with a basket ball

"Wanna come play basketball with us?"

"I'm sorry I have too.." a car honked behind him and he saw Alfred had pulled up to the gates "I have to get home"

"Maybe some other time then"

He nodded and went to sit in the backseat of the car "How was your day master Richard?"

"Fine I got an invitation to join the mathletes"

"I see Master bruce and Miss Selina will be thrilled by the news"

"They do need to sign the slip for membership"

"Are you prepared for the charity event that wayne manor is hosting tomorrow?"

"I was hoping they would be too busy for that"

"Actually they're at the watchtower at this very moment having a conference with the justice league once they return they will be getting ready for the event as well"

"I can finish up my homework while we wait for them"

"Good choice sir"

oOo

"So you've officially changed your personal to batwoman then?" wonder woman asked

"Yes I wanted it to match Bruce's name because cats and bats don't associate with each other do they?"

"How's gotham's crime rate?" Clark asked

"About the same we've been keeping it as low as possible "Bruce answered

"Didn't poison Ivy break out of arkham a few days ago?" hal asked

"Yes we've been trying to track her movements but she's been staying under the radar" Selina answered

"Better stay on guard then"

"Yeah"

"Dick should be getting home right about now so we should get going too" Selina pointed to her watch

"Dick?" Barry asked

"Yeah Richard's new nickname" Bruce informed him

The league was surprised they had given him a nickname and he had been ok with it

"We need to get going see you next time" Selina and Bruce left through the zeta tubes heading back to the batcave

"The kid sounds alright to me" oliver shrugged

"Yeah but we still need to keep on guard just in case I mean he still hasn't told anyone everything that happened with the court" Clark argued

"Would you want to talk about being tortured and brainwashed into a killer?" Dinah raised an eyebrow

"No but I'm just saying he's been taught to hide his emotions so I don't think it would be very difficult to confess "

"Just give him time I'm sure he'll come around as long as we take baby steps on getting used to him too"

oOo

"This is fantastic dick" Selina hugged him when he showed them the slip to join the mathletes

"First the honor students and now the mathletes what are you going to accomplish next kiddo?" bruce smiled while patting him on the shoulder

"Well…the academic decathlon team has been interested in me but I have to be in 9th grade for that"

"Once you're in 9th grade I'm sure you'll want to join right?" he shrugged in response so they went ahead and signed the slip to join the mathletes

"You'll be a great addition to the team" Selina hugged him again

"Well we need to get going we have to get ready for patrol" Bruce checked the clock

"Be sure to eat a good dinner and we'll see you when we get back" Selina smiled before they left

He got back to doing his work putting his mathlete slip back into a folder then getting out his literature textbook for his English homework. He had to read another version of Romeo and Juliet then the Shakespeare one that he never heard of, the story was about 14 pages long but he could handle it

Once he was done with his homework he went down to the batcave to join Alfred seeing that he was cleaning up around there

"Finished already master Richard?"

"Yes it wasn't very difficult to do"

"I see well you can tour around the cave while I finish up" he nodded and walked around the cave he hadn't really looked around down here in the few months he had been living in the manor he went down to the second floor to see the display cases. There were old versions of the batman suit inside them and the catwoman suit inside one he looked to the training area of the batcave and saw several machines that helped with training, erisma sticks, balance equipment, and a fighting mat in the middle. He had to admit he did miss fighting but he didn't want to use his skills for evil but for good like his new parents

Suddenly over the bat computer the batwave was giving off an emergency signal for batman and batwoman

"What's happening Alfred?" he asked as he went back up to the first floor

Alfred ran over to the computer to check "It's their suits giving off a warning that their brain function has lowered I can't find the cause" he typed in some commands to show two figures on the screen giving off red lights on the heads of them

"What do we do?" he asked

"We need to figure out a way to help them" Alfred explained then looked over to him getting an idea "perhaps you can go and help them master Richard"

"What?!" his eyes widened

"You have the capability to fight criminals just don't cause any unneeded injuries"

"I don't even have a disguise Alfred"

Alfred thought for a bit more "Perhaps we can scrape together a suit for you" he went to the second floor and quickly put together a make-shirt suit from Bruce's earlier plans when he was a child. Dick's eyes widened when he saw the suit he was going to where it had a black hood that would keep the top half of his face in the shadows connected to a cape to his knees that was a bit torn at the end, a domino mask, black gloves with claws on the fingers, boots, a utility belt, there were black spikes coming into the chest from the back, the chest was a crimson red and had a bat symbol on the chest and the pants were black as well.

"Where you planning this?" he asked once he put the suit on and saw it fit perfectly

"I assure you I wasn't now you will need these I know you can drive right?" Alfred handed him a pair of keys and he nodded taking them then Alfred lit up a platform on the third floor showing the batcycle "I'm sure you'll manage"

oOo

Batman and Batwoman had been investigating into the recent kidnapping of Jim Gordon and had found out he had been kidnapped by poison Ivy then taken to an old greenhouse where he had been trapped in vines hanging over some acid.

They jumped down into the water right in front of him

"Bats is a tra…" Jim's mouth was covered by a vine wrapping around him mouth then was taken high up into the greenhouse

Batman sent a shuriken to cut him free when it was stopped by a tree that moved in front of it

"It seems I have some weeds in my garden" they heard and turned to see poison Ivy sitting on a couple of rose bushes she had made "Wack'em boys" she ordered her plants

Some vines burst out of the ground behind them as they took out some weapons to cut them and when the vines came at them they rushed at them with the saws attached to their gloves cutting right through all of them

Poison Ivy glared when she saw them cut through her plants "These bats are getting to be real thorns in my side" she lifted a finger commanding more vines to come out and they had managed to wrap around them pinning their arms to their sides

"You're no rose yourself ivy!" batwoman yelled as she and batman cut themselves free. As batman was about to run forward he couldn't move so he looked down to see moss was growing at his feet keeping him stuck to the ground and when batwoman ran to help she was knocked away my a tree trunk and then batman joined her.

Poison ivy approached them while sitting on a vine "Why fight me bats when we can be such good friends" she smirked before blowing spores in their faces causing them to cough and collapse until their eyes began glowing green "Mother nature's mind control such an advantage isn't it?" she then turned to Jim as the acid was filling up the flower he was in fast "Who will save you now jimbo?"

A shuriken suddenly flew out and cut the flower making the acid spill out saving jim from danger. Ivy's was surprised by that "What?!" she looked to where the shuriken had come from to see a dark shadow in the moonlight of the roof's windows "Devour him!" she ordered and vines came flying out heading straight for him

He jumped out of the way as a vine came at him and landed on the back of it as it turned around and then threw an explosive at it destroying it before jumping off again and landing on a rafter. More vines grabbed rocks and parts of pillars to throw at him but each time he was able to dodge them using his acrobatics to flip around and over rafters.

"Bats why don't you give this little pest a hand?" poison ivy ordered making them both get up and turn to him as their eyes continued to glow green

"As you command" they got out their grabbling hooks and shot them off to head toward him. He flipped out of the way before batman landed in front of him and batwoman landed behind him

'Mind control was the problem' he gritted when he saw their eyes were glowing

Batman jumped into the air and headed at him with a kick but he flipped out of the way as batwoman rushed at him with a punch but he dodged it. While both of them were attacking him some vines below them grew out and came up behind him so he jumped up to avoid them causing them to hit the bats instead. When he landed on a vine on the ground it grew out of the floor so he jumped off it until he was hit by another vine to the ground then another vine wrapped around him lifting him up to poison ivy 'I'm out of practice'

Batman and Batwoman jumped down to each side of poison ivy sitting on a vine. He cut himself free from the vines and threw down some smoke bombs "Find him!" poison ivy ordered the bats

They searched around for him as he was running around trying to think of some way to free them from the mind control when batman grabbed him putting him in a full-nelson from behind but he brought up his foot to kick him in the face letting him go then jumped up to kick batwoman as she approached but she blocked it with her arm then threw him to a steam below them.

He coughed out the water in his mouth as batman and batwoman landed on each side of him in the stream. While he was on his hand and knee he looked down at the water then at the powder on their faces and jumped up to his feet, he ran at batman first kicking him face down into the water and next batwoman before she could attack him from behind. He could see it was working once there was some red floating into the water below them; they both shot up gasping for air once the powder came off and then stood up and when they saw him their eyes widened

"Are you who I think you are?" batwoman asked

"I think we already know the answer to that" batman answered as he shrugged in response

"You're both back to normal"

"Oh their back alright" poison ivy approached them "Back in time to see me finish you off!" she made a huge vine and wacked it down onto the steam they were in but not before they all jumped out of the way. Batman landed on another vine and got ivy's attention before throwing explosives at her causing her to fall off the vine she was sitting on and batwoman got a shuriken to cut the commissioner free from the flower

There was a large rumbling from where ivy had landed so they all looked over to see her come out with a large tree then made vines to attack the three of them. They managed to dodge the vines before they were able to hit them and all of them sent ice pellet to attack freeze her

"You can't freeze me if you can't hit me bats" she laughed as she grew more vines to shield her, batwoman send shuikens to cut the vines out of the way as batman sent ice pellet to attack her but she just grew more vines so dick decided to sent shurikens to cut the vine she was standing on making her fall until she landed on another vine but he just threw another causing her to fall into a steam.

When batman was about to freeze the steam vine came out and wrapped around his wrists and waist making him drop the pellets, so batwoman rushed to help but vines wrapped around her as well and little vines came attacking dick as the pellets fell closer to him

"The thing about plants…." Poison ivy grew a tree out of the steam "Love water" and made it grow bigger as she stood on it and made the vines bring batman and batwoman over to her

Dick fought off the vines and grabbed the ice pellets coming over to the them and showing the bats he had the ice pellet making them smirk. Poison ivy saw they were smirking and turned just as dick threw the pellets at her but she made a vine to shield herself "Better luck next time kid!" she smirked

Dick smirked when the pellets fell into the water and since the water covered the three and ivy it cause them to freeze as well before she was able to move out of the way. Dick then send shurikens to cut batman and batwoman free from the vines

"You okay?" batwoman asked as they approached him

"Fine what about you two?"

"We'll live" batman assured him

Commissioner Gordon approached them thanking batman and batwoman for their help

"You should be thanking him we would have all been goners if he hadn't come" batwoman put her hands on his shoulders

"Yes I do owe you thanks if it hadn't been for you I would have died from that acid" Jim shook his hand as he nodded "Well I should be making arrangements for ivy to be taken back to arkham" he left leaving them alone

"How did you get here?" batman asked him

"Bat-cycle" he got out the keys and showed it to them "Agent A gave me permission"

"How did you fit it's twice your size?" batwoman asked

"I managed"

"At least he wore protective gear" batman assured her

"Actually there isn't much protection on this suit we just scrapped it together when we received the alert in the cave" both their eyes widened "I have the serum for protection though" they sighed

"Well at least you weren't injured that's the important part" batwoman smiled then took the keys to the bat-cycle "I'll drive it back you can ride in the batmobile with batman" he nodded and they all headed to their vehicles

oOo

Across town at the police station jim had finished telling the tale of the child that had saved him from the acid and freed batman and batwoman from their mind control then froze ivy in the ice.

"Seems we have a boy wonder in the city"

"Think he's the bats kid they are a man and a woman capable of having a kid right?"

"Don't know part of his face was hidden in the shadow of his hood" Jim shrugged "For all we know this was only a one-time thing"

"Having a kid hero would be a good role-model for children though"

oOo

The following morning dick woke up early in the morning as usual to get ready for school taking a shower, putting on his uniform, and taking his backpack to the door then went to meet with Bruce and Selina in the living area before breakfast

"You made the front page" Bruce told him making him lift an eyebrow until he handed him the newspaper and his eyes widened: **Batboy takes down Poison Ivy.** That was the headline of the article and there was a picture of him from the greenhouse

His eyebrow furrowed at the name "Batboy?"

"You never did give yourself a name last night" Selina smiled

"That was because I thought it was a onetime thing" he argued

"Well we've been thinking and we thought it would be a good thing to have a third hero of Gotham and our partner but we wanted to know your answer to it" Bruce asked

"I'll have to think about it" he answered he didn't really know if he wanted to do it because last night was just to save them from the mind control he hadn't really intended to get involved in the fight

"Well we'll wait for your answer right now we have to eat then get you to school" he nodded

After they ate breakfast Alfred took him to school in their limo but when he stepped through the doors of Gotham academy most of the students had the article of batboy gossiping about the possibility of the new hero.

"Dick!" he heard and turned to see Barbra approaching him with her own article "Did you hear about the new hero"

"Yes my parents showed it to me this morning" he answered they had already been calling him a hero

"Isn't it great this is the first child hero in history it's so cool"

"How does anyone know he's going to fight crime? Maybe he was only there to save batman and batwoman" he asked

"Were all hoping that with the right inspiration from the media that he'll become a hero after all eh saved my dad from that acid so I'm defiantly rooting for it, what do you think?"

He was surprised that people actually wanted him to be a hero "I think he should be free to choose whatever he wants to do"

"Always the neutral one aren't you" she sighed "Well I think he should but he should change his name batboy sounds really stupid"

"The media probably gave him that name there most likely weren't any reporters at the fight"

oOo

"What the heck is this?!" Clark yelled as he shoved the newspaper into Bruce's hands

The main justice leaguers had come to the batcave as soon as they saw the article and demanded an explanation

"Did you read the article?" Selina asked knowing that it explained how batman and batwoman were under mind control

"Yes I know what you're thinking but why didn't you just call in for justice league help who knows what could have happened if Richard had actually tried to hurt you" Diana argued

"But he didn't he was there to help and he saved the commissioner from dying" bruce argued

"As long as this doesn't happen again were fine" barry sighed

"Actually we gave him the opportunity to join us in crime fighting" Selina announced causing them to argue against it "Hey you're the ones who said that we should teach him the ways of a hero in the first place"

"Yeah but we meant when he was a adult or at least a teenager not now" oliver yelled

"Well he's still deciding and if he says yes then we'll accept it. This isn't any of your business anyway" bruce yelled

"How do you know this isn't going to spark some kind of child hero business then?" Clark yelled

"Well then it'll be your problem to handle your future partners while we handle ours"

"You two are impossible"

"Thank you" Selina smiled

"It wasn't a compliment"

oOo

All day at school dick heard about the batboy new fanclubs, posters of drawing they made of him, and the petitions to have him join the hero business that they would give to batman or batwoman to give him for their support.

"How was school dick?" Selina asked

"Shocking" he mumbled

"What?" bruce asked

"The students were all gossiping about the new hero batboy"

"Did that inspire your decision?" Selina asked

He thought about how the students were saying that there had never been a child hero, how he would be a cool role model and they could try meeting him. "I could try it out for a while"

"We need to remodel your suit then to protect you" Bruce smiled

"But I need a new name"

"Why?"

"Batboy sounds a bit idiotic" he shrugged making Selina laugh at Bruce's expression since he had liked the name

"Alright then what do you suggest?"

"You could try to match our names but your right batboy does sound stupid" Selina agreed

He thought about it and some names that could match batman and batwoman. 'Dark wing…..batkid….vampire…black…bat…"Black bat?"

"Black bat?" bruce asked

"Yes that sounds adequate" dick confirmed

"That does sound a lot better than batboy" Selina smiled

"Alright than black bat it is"

_To be continued_

**I really wanted dick's name to match batman and batwoman name's because every other partner other than artemis matched their mentor's somehow and her name does relate to arrows anyway. And I had already drawn what batwoman and black bat's suits look like as the picture for this story it took me about an hour to draw both of them perfectly then transfer it to Photoshop to make the background and have batman in the picture. **

**I wanted to make a chapter when the young justice team is formed to have the Grayson family come from another dimension without the court and have them figure out black bat and Richard Wayne are really Richard john Grayson but this would be far in the future. **


	16. Black Bat's debut

Black Bat's debut

Bruce had mortified dick's black bat suit to have all the protection needed so there would be no need for the electrum serum. The suit looked almost the same as the scrapped together one, it still had the hood to cover half his face connected to the cape, a domino mask, the two spikes that came from the back to his chest, the chest was blood-red and had a black bat symbol, the utility best was black and red as well as his boots and had black pants with red knee pads. His gloves were technically modified to hack into computer systems but still had claws on the fingers and spikes on the arms of them.

They had even given him his own weapons now instead of shurikens he had explosive disks and all the other weapons were painted to match his suit. Bruce and Selina had trained him a little to get rid of his assassin style using combat and machines; they had taken him out on patrol with them but only to observe the fighting to see their style of fighting in action so he would sit on rooftops and stay in the shadows.

"You're going to have to make your alter egos look like completely different people" Bruce told him but he didn't understand what that meant so lifted an eyebrow

"He means you'll have to make a different personality for black bat since your civilian identity can't be linked to him" Selina explained it for him better but he still didn't know how to do that because he had never had to do something like this before "Let's see you can act like me and batman out in the field all serious and straight to the point"

"Yes that would be easier"

"You have to change your civilin identity a bit too" Bruce told him "since black bat's hair is all messy your civilian hair will have to be neat so you can try using gel" his eyebrows furrowed but he nodded "And your voice will have to be different can you talk in your accent during civilian time and without it during patrol?"

"Yes" that should be easy enough

Bruce and Selina had to test his skills all over again to make sure he was ready to fight again. They tested his swimming and were surprised that he was so fast and didn't have to come up for air for a long time during his laps. Next his agility, he had been a bit rusty but quickly got the hang of it dodging all the weapons that came at him and flipping around on the training equipment; he had been able to fight head on with both of them managing to be on par with both of their skills which made the fights call a draw. He had to climb up the cave walls to test his speed on both the ground and up, Selina had commented saying he looked like a flash than a bat.

Dick had been told that being black bat would be a privilege as long as he had good behavior and kept his grades up in school he could go out on patrol with them but if his grades started dropping or got into a fight he would be off patrol for a month. He knew it was reasonable after all he was only a child who still had to finish up his education

Before he had begun going out of patrol about a month after his appearance at the greenhouse jim had been asked by Barbra to give a petition to batman to give to him and when he saw it he thought it would have just been about two or three papers but this was over 30 and they were overflowing with signatures for black bats debut.

"They really want a child hero don't they?" Selina looked though the papers sitting next to the bat computer

"Well we should give them what they want" Bruce looked over to him then to the black bat suit in the showcase next to batman's and batwoman "Ready for your debut?"

For the first time in a long time dick cracked a small smile "Ready"

oOo

Bruce and Selina had been a bit worried about letting dick come out on patrol with them they knew he had the skill to take care of himself but they couldn't help but worry for their son's well being. Dick had told them he did have a motive for becoming black bat other than fighting crime it was so that he could redeem himself from all the pain he had caused when he was with the court of owls he wanted to make up his sins. He wanted to leave some good in history after he died of old age or by some unknown cause he didn't want to live with regret so he decided to become a hero and save lives instead of killing them.

They thought that was very honorable so that only pushed them more to let him come with them on patrol. They had to stop a drug heist tonight, they had learned a gang was planning to break into a pharmacy and steal all the medicines to make into drugs so they could sell but they were going to stop that from happening. Each of them went in different ways, batman went in by picking the lock of a door, batwoman thought a window, and black bat through some air vents on the roof.

Batman had already called Commissioner Gordon about the drug heist and he was on his way with the police. As the thugs were leaving he threw a shuriken to jam the door making them jump from the sudden attack

"What was that?!"

Batwoman came out from some shelf's to show herself so they pointed their guns to begin shooting but because of her extreme flexibility and acrobatics she had been able to dodge the bullets, while they were shooting batman came up behind them and attacked them. When the thugs turned their attention to him batwoman came up and helped him subdue all of them.

When some thugs saw they were too preoccupied with all the others they decided to flee though another exit but out of nowhere they were kicked to the ground from above and looked up to see black bat come out of the vents and flip over to stand on a shelve.

"It's the kid!"

When the they came at him he ducked their punches and then grabbed one of their arms to elbow them in the stomach before kicking them to the ground unconscious. He was able to subdue the group of thugs that had tried to escape then come over and join his parents to see they had knocked theirs out as well.

"Good work" Batman looked over at the fallen thugs he had taken out

"Thanks" he nodded

On cue they heard police sirens outside so they left to stand on a nearby rooftop. They stayed there until the cops had collected all the criminals and had taken them into custody, one cop stayed behind standing in front of the pharmacy

"You can come out now" Gordon called then batman and batwoman jumped down to meet him but before they began they looked up making Gordon look up too and saw black bat was still on the roof until he jumped down with them. "Black bat was it?"

He nodded for confirmation

"It's nice to actually see you again I thought you had only appeared to save batman and batwoman from their mind control"

"We've been training him to help us more often" batman answered

"He's well protected right?"

"Of course we wouldn't let our son out on the field without proper protection" batwoman told him

"Your son? So you're a family a heroes that's pretty neat"

"Thank you"

"Well all the criminals will have their time in jail but for now thanks for your help" Gordon looked to black bat "And welcome to the team" he nodded as Gordon turned back to the adults but they had vanished so he turned back to the child to see he was gone too "Must be a family trait"

oOo

After a few more weeks of black bat's continued patrols with his parents he had started becoming popular with the youth of society all over the world as the boy wonder. Black bat was officially the first child hero in history and a very talented one at that since he didn't need powers or any other mystic abilities in order to save people

It had also been announce that batman and batwoman were indeed the parents of black bat; this had cause an uproar in their popularity because people thought it was cool to have a family of heroes making up scenarios of what their civilian identities were.

The league hadn't been too happy about it because they didn't see Richard fit to be a hero because he had also been an assassin. They stayed out of it though they wanted to see how his skills played out and if he made even the slightest move against their code of conduct then they would say something.

Dick had also grown very popular at school than he had been at when he had started going there, Barbra was still his best friend and he had become a bit more social with everyone they had also been able to get rid of his habit of speaking formally but he was asked to speak that way sometimes while being black bat. He was still one of the honor students and had won several mathlete competitions getting some trophies

The trophies he won were kept in a showcase at the school and some were taken home to place in a showcase in the foyer.

Around the time dick turned 10 batman and batwoman had been called to a justice league meeting about a problem the other members were having with their civilian identities

"Wally was able to recreate the experiment that gave me my speed and now he's asking if he can be my partner like black bat is" Barry yelled at them

"How is that our problem?" Bruce asked

"We told you that making a child hero would spark something like this and you remember the child I took in Roy he found out about green arrow and he's been sneaking out trying to play hero too" Oliver yelled

"You should control your kids better than. We let dick become a hero because we knew he had the skills to fight" Selina argued

"Yes but Wally and Roy don't and they could get killed"

"If you don't want them to get killed then train them you can't control them if they already have the skill"

"Did dick want to be a hero when he saved you?" Clark asked

"He didn't at first but then realized he wanted to redeem himself and thought becoming a hero would help"

"So what are we supposed to do train our kids to become heroes too?" Barry asked

"It's your choice they're your kids not ours"

oOo

Soon after that meeting a few months later there had been news reports about a kid flash and a speedy in central city and in star city as the new partners of their heroes.

"What do you think of this dick?" Selina asked after showing him two articles of the new partners

He shrugged "My opinion really doesn't matter it's their choice to fight crime I have my own reason and they have theirs"

"Well the league weren't too happy about it they think it's your fault because you inspired them to fight crime like you does" Bruce told him

"It wasn't my intention to do that"

"We know"

"Selina and I have to go on some league business tonight but do you think you can handle patrol alone?" bruce asked

"Yes"

"Alright and just activate your emergency signal in case you need help"

While dick was patrolling around the center area of Gotham he had run into a couple of muggers trying to rob a jewelry store so they aimed their guns at him and began shooting but he threw a couple of disks at them to knock the guns out of their hands while he was dodging the bullets and lasso's to wrap around them making them fall to the ground. There were still others attempting to attack but he subdued them

"Give up!" he yelled as he held a man on the ground

"Better do as he says dude the boy wonder has some skill" dick frowned and looked up to see kid flash was standing in the middle of the street with them

"And just who are you supposed to be?" the mugger asked

"I'm kid fla…"

Some of the other criminals got free from the lassoes around their feet and had managed to escape while wally had been talking making dick groan before chopping the man on the neck knocking him out

"Sorry" kid flash rubbed the back of his head

"What are you doing here? Are you not supposed to be with your mentor flash?"

"Wow you're a little more bossy than I thought you'd be and your shorter than the way you look in the pictures from the newspapers and TV"

"I asked a question"

"Fine, fine flash is away on league business and it was too quite in central so I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally meet the famous black bat you were my inspiration to become a hero too so I thought why don't we hang out for a while and get to know each other"

"I know plenty, Wally west blood relative of iris west who is married to Barry Allen. You're their nephew, 13 year old science prodigy"

"Creep" Wally muttered

"The correct term is detective"

"Alright then why don't I give it a shot? Your 11 years old, black bat the boy wonder, partner to batman and batwoman of Gotham city also their son. The first child hero in history short for your age and also way too serious"

"Sufficient observation"

"Awesome so why don't I help you patrol and we can hang out"

"Other heroes are not aloud within Gotham's district"

"The league doesn't have to know about this"

"That would be against regulations" dick was already under the league's radar for his behavior and if they knew he broke a rule who knows what they would do

"You can't say you've never broken a rule before"

Dick thought about it and he couldn't find any time he had ever went against orders other than trying to kill the talons when they mentioned the Grayson's or the circus

"Well how about we just talk for a while to get to know each other better we could become friends right?"

Dick frowned "You would need to talk that over with our mentors" barry certainly wouldn't let his nephew hang around an ex-assassin

"Since when do people need to do that?"

"Ask flash about it" he said before getting out a grappling hook and taking off

oOo

"You What?!" Barry yelled

"What's the big deal I just went to meet him" Wally shrugged

"Wally I don't want you going around him without anyone knowing"

"Why he wouldn't hurt me would he?"

"No" Barry wasn't sure about the answer

"Than what are you so worried about geez" Wally stocked off to his room

Barry sighed and decided to pay the bats a visit running straight to the batcave. Once he got there batman was sitting in front of the bat computer while batwoman was standing by him he looked over and saw the black bat suit was in the showcase so that meant Richard was upstairs.

"What do you want flash?" Bruce asked without turning around

"Did Richard say anything particular that happened on patrol?" Barry crosses his arms

"You can't blame this on him he didn't do anything to Wally and he wasn't planning for him to come to Gotham so you should be yelling at your nephew not out son" Selina yelled

"I just don't want wally around him I'm still wary about him and don't want them alone together"

"Dick knows not to go outside Gotham during patrol so you need to explain that to kid flash"

"Wally has wanted to meet black bat since he began fighting crime and now that he has he's going to want to hang out with him more often"

"Dick is only black bat to fight crime he doesn't want to use it for any other reason. Dick had plenty of friends at school and goes out with them on numerous occasions unless you want to expose their identities to each other"

"What no!"

"Than what's the problem just tell your nephew that black bat doesn't want to be friends and he'll stay away"

"Wally isn't going to believe that he has a tendency to break rules and pressure people until they talk to him but I don't want him around Richard until he's fully proven he's changed"

"You're not going to tell wally about the court are you?" Bruce asked

"No"

"Good"

_To be continued_

**Wally and dick to become good friend when they form the team but wally isn't aloud around him without a league member around. I wanted to speed this story up to the team because I've run out of ideas for chapters so I thought I would start introducing the partners **

**I'll probably do Independence Day next because I don't have any more ideas**


	17. Independence day

Independence Day

_Gotham city _

It was a beautiful day in Gotham city; Families were out in the park enjoying the great weather when all of a sudden they began screaming and running away before being frozen in ice

"Enjoying family time?" Mr Freeze asked aiming his freeze ray at a family that was having a cook out and freezing them "My family has other plans" he slid off the rock he was standing on and aimed his ray at fleeing citizens until a batarang hit him "Batman I was wondering when…." He turned but saw no one there

He caught a glimpse of a shadow moving on his side so turned but it was long gone then a pair of feet landed on top of him before it jumped off and some disks cracked his screen "Ah boy wonder so that bats sent you to drag me off to prison frankly I'm underwhelmed"

Black bat didn't say anything but just looked past him motioning for something so Freeze turned only to see batman come down at him and punch straight through his screen hitting his face knocking him to the ground "You'll pay for that batman" he growled and aimed his ray at batman but before he could blast it more batarangs came out behind him and exploded his freeze machine on his back. "Batwoman you're finally here I see"

Batwoman landed on the ground and the three of them had formed a triangle around Mr. Freeze before sending their weapons at him and knocking him out

"You two can head to the hall I'll stay here and get everything situated" batwoman told them

Batman nodded then pressed a button on his belt soon after the batmobile showed up. He and black bat jumped in and headed off to the Hall of justice. Once they got there aquaman was already there with aqualad as well as green arrow with speedy. After getting out of the car batman made it head back to Gotham

"Welcome to the Hall of justice" Green arrow announced

"Headquarters of the justice league" Aquaman added

Black Bat lifted an eyebrow and turned to batman but he motioned for him to keep quiet so he gave a small nod.

"Aw man" they turned to see flash and kid flash arrive behind them "I knew we'd be the last ones here" kid flash crossed his arms and they began walking toward the entrance

"Is that batman?"

"Look its flash and flash junior"

"His name's speedy"

"No speedy's green arrow's sidekick"

"Well that makes no sense"

"Ready to see the inner sanctum?" green arrow asked

"Born ready" speedy smirked

"I'm glad we're all here" aqualad smiled

"Have all four sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" kid flash asked

"Don't call us sidekicks" speedy growled "Not after today"

"Sorry first time at the hall I'm a little overwhelmed" kid flash smiled

Black bat wasn't very enthusiastic as the others were since he had been here before and knew it wasn't the justice league's actual HQ.

"Aren't you excited?" kid flash nudged him

"Sure"

When they stepped inside they were met with seven large statues of the original justice league members getting awe's from the other partners

Martian Manhunter and Red tornado stepped out of a door to greet them "Black bat, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash welcome" they turned to walk back through the door followed by the new arrivals "You now have full access to the gym, our fully stocked gallery and of course our library"

"Make yourselves at home" Flash spread his arms

Kid Flash and aqualad freely sat on two chairs next to them and after a minute black bat sat down on the chair next to wally leaving speedy the only one standing

"Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day we shouldn't be long" Batman turned to them then to the door behind him

_Recognized Batman 02_

_Aquaman 06_

_Flash 04_

_Green Arrow 08 _

_Martian Manhunter 07_

_Red Tornado 16_

The door opened up allowing them to enter

"That's it?" speedy called for them to turn around "You promised us a real look inside not a glorified backstage pass"

"It's a first step you've been granted access few other get" aquaman assured him

"Oh really?" speedy motioned to the people through the glass above them "Who cares which side of the glass were on"

"Roy you just need to be patient" green arrow told him

"What I need is respect" Roy turned around to face the other partners "Their treating us like kids worse like sidekicks we deserve better than this"

Kid flash and aqualad look to each other but black bat didn't really care about the situation since the league still watched his every move it was a miracle they even trusted him even 10 feet from their partners "You're kidding right your playing their game? Why?! Today was supposed to be the day! Step one of becoming fully fledged members of the league"

Wally looked to the others "Well sure but I thought step one was a tour of the HQ"

"Except the hall isn't the league's real HQ" Dick raised his head a bit and opened his eyes while the others looked shocked "I bet they never told you that it's just a false front for tourist and a pit stop for catching zeta beam teleporter tubes to the real thing, an orbiting satellite called the watchtower"

Green arrow turned around to batman who crossed his arms "I know, I know but I thought maybe we could make an exception for him?" batman glared they didn't even trust his partner and he had been at the hero business longer "Or not"

"You are not helping your cause here son, stand down or…." aquaman approached him

"Or what?! You'll send me to my room and I'm not your son, I'm not even his" Roy turned to Ollie "I thought I was his partner but…" he reached his hand up to his hat "Not anymore" throwing it the ground

Black bat sighed when Wally and kaldar eyes widened. Roy turned and began walking to the door "Guess they're right about you three' he said as he walked by making dick glare "You're not ready"

The computer turned on "Superman to justice league there's been an explosion at project Cadmus it's on fire"

Batman and the other leaguers approached the computer "I've had my suspicions on Cadmus, this may present the perfect opportunity to…"

"Zatara to justice league, the sorcerer Wotan is using the amulet of atten to block out the sun requesting full league response"

"Superman?" batman asked

"It's a small fire local authorities have it under control"

"Then Cadmus can wait" batman pressed a button on the computer "All leaguers rendezvous at zatara's coordinates batman out" then turned to the partners "Black bat head back to Gotham and help batwoman"

"What why can't we all help?" wally asked

"This is a league mission" aquaman told him

"You're not trained" Flash added

"Since when?" wally spread out his arms

"I meant you're not trained to work a part of this team" Flash motioned to batman and aquaman

"There will be other missions when you're ready"

"But for now head back home" batman finished then walked away with them

"Glad you didn't bring you know who?" green arrow asked J'ohn

"Indeed" they followed after batman and red tornado was the last to join them

Black bat got out of his chair and stood up to leave

"You're just gonna take that!" Wally yelled stopping him "When we're ready how are we ever gonna be ready when they treat us like sidekicks?!"

"My mentor, My king I thought he trusted me" Aqualad looked betrayed

"Trust? They don't even trust us with the basics they've got a secret HQ in space!"

"What else aren't they telling us?" Aqualad asked

"I am sure they will tell is in time" Black bat told them

"What is project Cadmus?" Aqualad asked after a moment of silence

"Don't know but you can find out can't you?" wally asked dick

"That would mean hacking into the league's database"

"So they've keeping secrets from you so why don't we just find out on our own they'll never know"

"Batman has ways"

"Are you always going to be such a wuss?"

Black bat's eyes widened at the insult he had heard worse but still after a moment of debate he sighed and headed over to the computer "Access denied" he typed in a few more commands and bypasses the firewall

"Whoa how are you doing that?" wally asked

He didn't answer he wasn't even supposed to be doing this, he pressed one more button "Access granted"

"Project Cadmus genetics lab here in DC that's all the information"

"Maybe we should investigate" wally announced "I mean if batman's suspicious"

"Solve their case before they do it would be poetic justice" Aqualad agreed

"They're all about justice" wally smiled "You comin with?" he asked black bat

"I am needed back in Gotham"

"Aw come on your mom can handle herself can't she take a ride on the wild side for a change" black bat sighed and thought he would just scope it out then head back

"We're a team on a mission?" Aqualad asked

"We didn't come to get blown off right?" Wally asked and kaldar smirked

oOo

"Help!"

"Get us down!" Two scientists yelled from the Cadmus building on fire

"Stay put we will get you down" A fireman yelled thought a bull horn

An explosion came from the room they were in knocking them out the window. Kid flash speed up and caught the two of them putting them on the roof then hung onto a window before he fell off

"It's what's his name….Flash boy"

"Kid flash! Why is that so hard?"

"Does he always have to run ahead?" aqualad asked as he and black bat approached "We need a plan we…." He saw black bat wasn't there "Black bat?" he then saw a shadow move and looked over to see he had landed on a fire truck then used his grappling gun to land on the window helping kid flash inside "I need to borrow that" he called to two fireman with a hose using his weapons to control the water lifting up to the two scientist "Step aboard now"

The two scientist jumped on grabbing on to him to keep their balance before he jumped onto the window and controlled the water to the ground. "Appreciate the help" he told the others once he joined them

"You managed. Were only here to investigate" black bat was searching on a computer while kid flash was looking through some file cabinets. Aqualad walked further in but caught a glimpse of something before an elevator closed "There was something in the…"

"Elevators should be locked down" Wally's informed him

Black bat's eyebrows furrowed so he walked toward the elevator then opened up his holographic computer "This is a high speed express elevator which does not belong in a two story building"

"Neither does what I saw" Aqualad forced the elevator doors open but his eyes widened when he saw how far down it went

Dick walked to see "We should not go down it could become too much for us to handle"

"Oh come on don't tell me you're chickening out already?" wally smirked putting his hands on his hips

He narrowed his eyes and stepped back to the elevator getting out a grappling hook attaching it to the ceiling before jumping down, kid flash and aqualad jumped onto the cable and slid down after him. The rope ran out at SL 26 so he jumped off to the doors with aqualad right behind him helping kid flash on as well.

"Bypassing security…..There" he motioned for aqualad to open the doors. Once they looked around inside kid flash ran off

"Kid wait…" aqualad called. When they ran after him they saw he was almost crushed by some creatures before joining them "No nothing odd going on here"

oOo

"Dr desmond"

"Tell me guardian what part of no interruptions did you not understand?" he asked while putting a test tube in a vault with some other test tubes

"A genome on sublevel 26 reported three intruders"

He sighed "Did I miss a perimeter breach alert"

"No"

"Then the genome's confused whatever might occur in our full lab above ground the real Cadmus is the most secure lab in DC"

"My job is to keep it that way"

"Fine take a squad"

"Might I recommend guardian leave his genome behind, if violence should occur…." Double X suggested

"The little guy would be in my way" guardian agreed

"No, the advantage of instant telepathic communication outweighs other concerns" he petted a genome on his desk and it's horns glowed, the genome on guardians shoulder horn's glowed as well giving guardian orders

"I need my genome with me at all times" he bowed before leaving

oOo

Black bat hacked another door and his eyes widened at the sight when they opened

"This is how they hide this massive facility from the world" Kid flash observed the creatures in the tubes lining the walls "The real cadmus isn't on the grid it generates its own power with these…" he motioned to the creatures "Things….must be what they're bread for"

"Even the name's a clue, the Cadmus of myth created a new race by sewing dragon's teeth into the earth" Aqualad added

"This Cadmus is creating new life as well" black bat walked over to a computer and attached a cable to its usb port "They call them genomorphs…..super strength… super speed…telepathy…"

"These are living weapons!" wally yelled "They're making an army but for who?"

"There is something else….project Kr.." His eyebrows furrowed he remembered William talking about those letters while he was talking to lex

"Don't move!" they turned to see guardian approaching with genomorphs "Wait…Black bat, Aqualad, kid flash?"

"I know you guardian a hero" aqualad looked him over

"I do my best"

"Then what are you doing here?" kid flash asked

"I'm chief of security and you are trespassing but we can call the justice league figure this all out"

"You think the league's gonna approve of you breading weapons?" wally asked

"Weapons what are you…." The genome on his shoulder's horn's glew "What have i…..ugh…..My head…..Take them down hard no mercy!" the genomes around him rushed at them

Black bat jumped in front of them and threw down smoke pellets then got out a grappling hook and attaching it to a rafter jumping up with the cable

Kid flash and aqualad were left to fight the genomes and guardian. Aqualad electrocuted guardian subduing him then kid ran by with genomes after him so aqualad followed him, they ran down a hall and saw black bat hacking a elevator "Way to be a team player bats!" wally yelled but he ignored him and the elevator doors opened. Aqualad jumped in with them just as they were almost closing then he and wally looked up at the floors to see they were going down

"We're headed down?" aqualad asked

"Dude out is up!" Kid flash pointed

"Project Kr is down. Sublevel 52"

"This is out of control….perhaps…perhaps we should contact the league" aqualad suggested but before they answered they heard a beep and the elevator doors opened on 52 so black bat ran out

"We are already here" wally told him running after bats, aqualad sighed and ran after them. They came to a Y-shaped hallway "Which way?"

Dick was about to hack a computer to find out when

"Halt!" Double X came around a corner and levitated two large cans at them. They ducked and black bat threw a disk at him, it stopped right in double X's face and he levitated more stuff at them making them rub down the right hallway. The elevator opened and guardian came out with more genomes "They are headed for project Kr"

Kid flash sped down the hall to see a woman coming out of a door and accidently tripped her. He grabbed a tube and used it to stop the doors from closing "Hurry!" he called for aqualad and black bat jumping in the room as aqualad kicked the tube off closing the door

"Door's disables we're safe" black bat announced

"We're trapped" aqualad argued

"Uh guys you'll wanna see this…" kid flash pressed a button on the computer to light up a large tube with a teenager inside that had the superman symbol on his chest

Dick's eyes widened so lex had cloned superman with the Dna sample he had gotten. He didn't think they'd actually be able to do it since he had heard about bizarro's creation and thought that was what the dna sample had been used for but he guessed not.

"Big K little r atomic symbol for krypton. Clone?" kid flash asked

"Black bat hack" aqualad shocked him out of his thoughts

"Right, right" he did want to know more information as well attacking a usb cord to the computer and bypassing the security "Weapon designation superboy a clone force grown in….sixteen weeks?" he asked that couldn't be right he got the sample over five years ago so why would they wait so long to use it "From dna acquired from superman"

"Stolen from superman" aqualad finished making dick look guilty

"No way the big guy knows about this" dick thought about it and he had never told superman the reason behind that mission since he still didn't trust him

"Solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7"

"And these creatures?" aqualad pointed to the genomes

"Genomorph nomes. Telepathic force feeding him an education"

"And we can guess why. They're making a slave out of well…superman's son"

"Now we contact the league" aqualad pushed he symbol on his belt but only received static

"No signal" dick told them

"We're in too deep….literally"

oOo

"They're still in there….with the weapon?" Dr. desmond asked

"We can't get the door open" Gaurdian looked to the scientist looking thought the control panel

"Use your telekinisis!" desmond turned to double X

"I have tried to no avail"

Desmond threw his hands in the air "Useless!" walking to guardian "This is a debacle get some genomes down here to muscle the door open"

"Already on their way"

"You realize once we get in there we can't ever let them leave"

"Doc these aren't your typical meddling kids you don't want to get on the wrong side of the justice league"

"Better than getting on the wrong side of the Cadmus board of directors believe me" desmond looked at the genome on guardians shoulder "Contact the genomes inside Kr"

oOo

The genomes horn's started glowing

"This is wrong….we can't leave him" kid flash told them. Black bat seemed unsure of what to do

Aqualad rubbed his chin for a minute "Set him free. Do it"

He sighed then brought up the holographic computer and put in a few codes. The tube began opening up and superboy's hand turned into a fist

Black bat's eyes narrowed when he saw the genomes above him were glowing

Superboy's eyes opened then jumped at aqualad tackling him to the ground punching him in the face, kid flash ran at him holding him arms "Hold on supey….were on your side"

Black bat knew he was being control so turned to the genomes in the tube. Kid flash was thrown at him knocking them into a pillar just as aqualad kicked superboy off him. Dick pushed wally off him and got out three of his disks turning them on and throwing them at the genomes in the tube causing it to explode

"We are trying to help you!" aqualad yelled

"W-what?" superboy rubbed his head

"You were under the genomes telepathic control" black bat told him and he nodded

"We need to get out of here" aqualad walked over to kid flash

But just as he was picked him up Dr. Desmond and the others walked in with multiple genomorpths "Subdue them!" the genomes horns glew and they were knocked out

oOo

It was already about one 'o clock in the morning before the justice league finally finished off wotan. They had gathered back at the hall of justice to find it was empty flash and aquaman had come back to pick up wally and kaldar

"Where are wally and kaldar we didn't tell them to leave" flash asked

Just then batman received an incoming transmission from the batcave "Batman" he answered

"Bruce when are you bringing dick home it's already one in the morning and he has school in five hours" Selina asked

Batman lifted an eyebrow "He's not at home?"

"No that's why I'm calling you"

"The league had a mission so I sent him home he should have arrived hours ago"

"Well he isn't here what if something happened to him…" Selina became worried

"Don't worry just activate his tracker and we'll know where he is"

"Problem bats?" Superman asked

"Dick is missing too"

"I knew he'd go rouge eventually he must have done something to wally and kalder then fled!" Oliver yelled

"He didn't do anything!" batman yelled

"How do you know you can't find him either!"

"Selina's tracking him!"

"Good I want to know what he did to my nephew" barry yelled

"Bruce I can't get a signal on his tracker it's offline" Selina responded

"Hah!"

"I'll check the security footage and get back to you" batman walked over to the computer and pulled up the security footage from just after they left. They saw black bat was preparing to leave when wally stopped him and began ranting on about how the league was being unfair and being secretive

Dick had tried assuring them that they were trusted and would be treated fairly when the time came and was about to leave when wally asked him to hack the computer to find out about project Cadmus. He didn't want to at first but was persuaded to and after more persuading was convinced to join kid flash and aqualad to investigate

"Black bat is innocent" batman announced

"He hacked into the system" superman argued

"Because kid flash was interrogating him"

"We don't have time to argue we need to go to Cadmus and find them" black canary pushed them apart

"Fine!"

oOo

Black bat awoke with his hand bound above him and he couldn't move his legs he quickly opened his eyes thinking he was chained to walls in the court again only to see he was in some sort of tube with superboy staring up at them. He noticed he still had his gloved on

Kid flash awoke next "Wh-wha? Where are…." He looked around "Bats….aqualad!"

Dick looked over to him but then glared down at the clone "Are you not going to assist us in our situation?"

"Why would he help us? He's working for Cadmus!" kid flash yelled

"I do believe he was not in control of his actions kid…..Were you?" aqualad asked

"I-I don't think I was"

"You are a kryptonian born from Dna acquired from superman. Being that is a worthy aspiration thought you can't do much living in Cadmus. Help us escape and we can show you what it means to be like superman" black bat asked

"Cadmus is my home!"

"Your home is a test tube dude, we can show you the outside world I seriously doubt you've ever been outside of that test tube before we freed you" kid flash tried to help persuade him

"There will be no escaping …..You'll be otherwise occupied" walked in with guardian and another scientist "Activate the cloning process"

Dick's eyes widened they were planning to clone them. Most likely to infiltrate the league

"And get the weapon back in it's pod!" desmond ordered

Super boy looked up at them "Help us" aqualad asked

"I told you not to think for yourself!" desmond yelled "See your not a real boy, you are a weapon and you belong to Cadmus! Now get back to your pod!" a genome jumped on superboy's shoulder and controlled him to walk out the door

Desmond nodded to the scientist at the computer panel. And the neck thing black bat saw was two long, metal probes jutted out from the bottom of their pods with four needles attached to both of them and rammed into his chest electrocuting him. He didn't scream from the pain he had felt much worse than this from his old collar as he worked harder to pick the locks of his cuffs

"Where's double x?" Desmond asked, but he stepped out of the shadows behind him "Lurking as usual. Get the genomes downloading their memories when that's done delete the source material"

Aqualad began contacting suberboy given his super hearing he should hear the message "Superboy, you live that gives you the right to follow your own path…..a weapon or a person…the choice is yours…but ask yourself what would superman do?"

Superboy had stopped walking and narrowed his eyes

"Dr. Desmond there is something usual about black bat's Dna" the scientist called him over

"What is it?"

"It seems his blood is altered…..there is a mass amount of electrum in his bloodstream"

"How can that be?" he looked up to the blood pouring into the circular tube below black bat and saw it was a different shade of red then the other two

But before anyone could do anything else they heard banging at the door and saw it rip off by superboy then thrown to the side

"I told you to get back to your…." Superboy pushed them all to the side knocking them into the walls "Don't give me orders!" he growled at them

"You here to help us or fry us?" Kid flash asked

Superboy's eyes narrowed "Huh? I don't seem to have heat vision so I guess helping is my only option"

Dick had finally finished picking his cuffs and the screen around him opened so he jumped out rubbing his wrists "That amount of time would never be accepted by my parents"

"Seriously that's what your worried about…the whole league will have our heads after tonight!" dick walked over to the panel and removed the screens around kid flash and aqualad

"You help aqualad I will aid kid flash" before he could respond black bat jumped up above kid and began picking the locks while superboy crushed the cuffs around aqualad's wrists and caught him as he fell "Thank you" he nodded

Black bat finished unlocking kid flash and they all jumped down and ran to the door. struggled to get up "You'll never get out of here I'll have you back in pods before morning"

Dick stopped and got out three more disks then threw them at the tubes containing their blood destroying them and ran back after the others

"Activate every genomorph in Cadmus!" Desmond ordered a genome on his shoulder

"We are still 42 level below ground…but if we can make the elevator" aqualad was interrupted when large genomorphs blocked their path and behind them genomorphs were coming out of the walls

Superboy punched one in the face while the others evaded their attacks to get past them and looked back to see superboy was still fighting them "Superboy! The goal is to escape not to bury ourselves"

"You wanna escape!" he picked a genomorph up and threw it at two others

Aqualad forced the elevator doors open, black bat shot a grappling hook up, kid flash ran up the sides and superboy grabbed aqualad and tried flying up "I-I'm falling" as they were descending black bat shot out a knife and aqualad caught it to land on the side next to them "Superman can fly…why can't I fly?"

"Don't know but I looks like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound…still cool!" kid flash assured him but dick was wondering what was the problem with his powers until he heard something above them

"We need to get out!" he pointed up at the elevator coming down so superboy knocked off the elevator doors next to them and they all jumped through before the elevator rammed into them. More genomorphs were coming so they ran down the hall next to them

_Turn left brother_ Superboy heard in his mind "Go left….left!" _ turn right _"Right" they came to a dead end

"Great job supey you trying to get us repoded?" kid flash asked

"No…I ..I don't understand"

Dick looked up to see the vent opening "We can go through there!"

When the genomorths came to the dead end all they found was the an empty hallway

"At this rate we'll never get out"

"Shhh…"Superboy turned around "Listen"

oOo

"Someone black bat I'd wager hacked our systems deactivating our security cameras but he neglected the motion sensors. The genomorphs are closing in and they're all coming out in here" Desmond opened the door to a men's bathroom "We have them cornered" he looked up at the vent only to see more genomorths come out and land on them

"He hacked the motion sensors" desmond gritted

oOo

"The motion sensors are deactivated" Black bat told them as he took the usb cable out of the panel

"Sweet I've finally got room to move!" kid flash put on his goggles and ran up several stair cases through the door behind them knocking over several genomorphs coming down

"More behind us!" black bat yelled so superboy kicked off the stairs behind them making them fall

Kid flash ran up more stair cases until they came to a hallway and he ran toward the door put it was closing making him ram into it and fall to the ground

"We're cut off from the street" aqualad and the others came running to join him

"Thanks my head hadn't noticed"

Superboy pushed the doors and he and aqualad tried pulling them open. Black abt tried hacking them open "Can't hack this fast enough" he heard growls behind them to see large genomorphs approaching so kicked a door open beside him "This way!"

They came to hall filled with genomorphs controlled by guardian, they prepared to fight but their horns and eyes glew knocking them out again

"Perhaps for the sake of all genomorphs our brother superboy should make up his own mind" Double X telepathically announced

"It was you?" superboy asked

"Yes brother I set the fire and lured your new friends down into Cadmus, woke them when they were in danger.."

"And guided me" he finished "Why?"

"Because you are our hope…the genomorph hero..you will blaze a trail for all our brothers showing us the way to freedom"

"Ugh what's going on?" guardian asked once the glowing stopped

"What is your choice brother?"

"I…Choose freedom"

"Feels like fog lifting" guardian took his hand off his head as the other partners were getting up

"Gaurdian?" aqualad asked

"Go I'll deal with desmond"

"I think not!" desmond said from behind genomorphs as the cleared out of his path "Project blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus" he drank some blue liquid in a test tube and suddenly he began growing into a large blue monster with red eyes

"Everyone back!" guardian yelled and ran at him but was hit knocking into a wall

Super boy yelled as he pushed him in the face but was punched back. Superboy punched him some more in the face several times before he was punched to the ground, he yelled as he jumped up but blockbuster growled and jumped at him going through the ceiling onto the next floor up

Black bat got out a grappling hook as kid flash grabbed onto his belt "You think lab coat planned that?"

"I doubt he is planning anything anymore" aqualad jumped through the hole to join them but as they saw superboy fight he was thrown into aqualad skidding across the ground so kid flahs and black bat ran to them and helped them back up

Kid flash ran at block buster skidding under his feet to distract him letting superboy and aqualad land a punch in his face and tripping him over kid flash as he fell. "learned that one in kindergarten"

Black bat threw disks at him but he just flinged them out of the way so superboy tried attacking him but was rammed into a pillar so he punched him to let him go. Aqualad ran at him to help but was thrown to the ground and superboy was thrown into another pillar

Kid flash came around and tried to attack blockbuster but he was grabbed by the arm then thrown at aqualad into two other pillars. As aqualad was recovering blockbuster rammed him through a pillar into another pillar by the neck and punched him

Black bat saw the ceiling was giving way from the force of the attack 'Of course' he brought out his holographic computer "Kid flash!" he called him over

Superboy attacked blockbuster from behind making him let aqualad go but was rammed through the pillar he was against making it crumble.

"Got it?" black bat asked

"Got it!" kid flash ran at block buster punching him in the face getting a piece of it off "Got your nose!" he pointed to it causing blockbuster to throw superboy to the ground and come after him

"Superboy! Aqualad!" black bat brought out the image again

"Come and get me you incredible bulk!" kid flash yelled and lead blockbuster to another pillar making it crumble too

"This one and that one!" black bat pointed to two pillars for aqualad and superboy so they nodded and made them crumble as well as kid flash made blockbuster punch through another pillar

"Sorry try again!" wally teased

Dick made an X on the ground with some chalk he had and aqualad poured some water over it as kid flash lead blockbuster to it and superboy punched him to the ground over the x. Aqualad electrocuted the water and blockbuster

"Move!" black bat yelled activating the disks embedded in the walls and pillar causing them to explode and the building to crumble on top of them so superboy covered kid flash and aqualad covered black bat.

Superboy lifted a large piece of concrete off of them from the destroyed building letting them out into the open. "We did it!" aqualad smiled

"Was there ever any doubt?" kid flash smiled slapping black bat on the shoulder playfully

Dick was trying to catch his breath when he saw the tear on his right shoulder exposing the court of owls symbol he gasped and quickly used his hand to cover it

"What's wrong bats?" kid flash asked

"Nothing!" he gritted as the electrum was starting to activate to heal his internal bleeding from the injuries he had received from the collapsing building and he tried to stay as quiet as possible from the pain It was causing him

"See….the moon" kid flash pointed up to it to show superboy and while he was looking at it he saw a figure emerge "Oh and superman!" his eyes widened when he saw superman approach with the entire justice league

Superboy stepped forward once they settled in around them and showed the torn superman symbol on his chest to superman. Superman was shocked at first but that quickly turned into a grim expression and a glare toward black bat who saw sitting on a piece of concrete gripping one of his knee and his shoulder because of the electrum.

Batman came to stand next to superman "Is that what I think it is?"

"He doesn't like being called an it" kid flash told them

"I'm superman's clone!" superboy yelled causing several leaguers to get confused and some of them look to black bat

"Start talking" batman ordered. Kid flash begun the story from when they arrived at Cadmus and aqualad helped to inform them however he was only half listening once he saw dick's pained expression and he was covering his deltoid. He knew it was because of the symbol and the electrum and pushed a button on his belt to alert Selina to come for him

"And that's when you guys showed up" kid flash finished and both green lanterns, the hawks, and captain atom took blockbuster away while the other leaguers were discussing

Black bat wished they would hurry up he didn't like being in such pain without letting it out somehow he liked it better when he was sedated during this so he couldn't feel a thing. And he had to cover his shoulder so nobody would see the symbol and get suspicious. He didn't really pay attention when their mentors approached them and begun having a conversation but he did hear the screeching of a car above all the rubble and saw the batmobile come to a stop.

"What happened?" batwoman asked as she got out of the car

"Take black bat back home I'll zeta tube back to the cave" batman motioned to their son and she saw the situation he was in so rushed over to him and helped him up

"Come on let's get you home" she helped steady him as he nodded biting his lip

"Wait your hurt?" Wally asked

Batwoman didn't let him answer and led him to the car jumping in and then speed off back to gotham and while they were in dick finally let go of his shoulder and groaned . Selina put the car on autopilot and got out a needle from her belt then jabbed it into his shoulder

"Thanks mom" he groaned before he faded into a sleep

oOo

"Why didn't he say he was hurt?" kid flash asked

"Doesn't matter" batman crossed his arms "Cadmus is going to be investigated all 52 levels but let's make one thing clear…."

"You should have called" flash interrupted

Batman glared at him "End results aside we are not happy. You interrogated black bat into hacking the league's systems, disobeyed direct orders and endangered lived…you will nto be doing this again"

"I am sorry but we will" aqualad argued

"aqualad stand down" aquaman ordered

"Apologies my king but no….we did good work here tonight the work you trained us to do. Together on our own be forged something powerful….important"

"If this is about you treatment at the hall….the two of you…"

"The three of us and black bat!" kid flash argued "And it's not were ready to use what you taught us if we weren't going to sue our skills in the first place then why did you teach us in the first place?"

"Why let them tell us what to do it's simple…get on board or get out of the way" superboy joined in

Batman narrowed his eyes "We can form a covert team for you to go on missions together but it will take time to get the necessary base and equipment"

"Yes!" wally cheered

"Give us a few weeks then your team can be formed"

"Wait will black bat join too?" wally asked

Flash and aquaman looked weary having him around their partners 24/7 and they glanced at batman "That will be his decision to make"

_To be continued_


	18. Welcome to Happy Harbor

Welcome to Happy Harbor

Selina had called Gotham academy telling them dick had caught a small cold and wouldn't be able to make it to school but would be back the next day. The sedation she used on him had lasted all night so she helping him up to his room to sleep comfortably in his large bed.

When dick woke up he felt refreshed. He looked to the clock to see it was already 12 in the afternoon and was surprised that he had slept for so long; he had almost forgotten what had happened at Cadmus until he began wondering when he had fallen asleep

He got out of bed like any other day went to his closet to put on some proper clothes and walked out to find out what had happened after he left last night.

"Good morning Master Richard" Alfred greeted him once he walked to the sitting room

"Morning" he greeted

"I see you're refreshed from your adventure yesterday. Master Bruce and Miss Selina wish to see you in the batcave"

He gulped and nodded walked to the study. He was nervous because he knew he was going to be in trouble for hacking the justice league's systems and going against orders he just hoped his punishment wouldn't be too bad" he put in a certain time on the grandfather clock and walked down the stairs to meet his parents

"Dick you're finally awake" Selina smiled hugging him

"What happened last night?" he asked once Selina let go

"You don't remember?" Bruce asked

He shrugged "I know everything up until I was sedated but that's it"

"Kid flash and aqualad want to form a covert team for the justice league with superboy" his eyes widened they weren't fully trained to go out on their own and superboy just got out of his pod with no training at all

"And you're going to allow it?"

"They said they were going to form a team with or without our permission so in order to keep them safe we decided to allow it on league terms only" he nodded knowing how stubborn they could be "Kid flash also asked if you would join the team with them"

He lifted an eyebrow at him with a frown on his face "The league supports that?"

"No"

He sighed "I don't want the league watching over me anymore than they already are"

"So is that a no?" Selina asked

"I-I..I'm sure they'll be able to handle themselves without me on the team and I don't feel very comfortable fighting crime outside of Gotham" he didn't want to admit it but he was actually afraid of being out of bruce or selina's sight for too long because now that he was starting to become famous like they were in society both day and night William might catch word of it and come after him while he was out with the team or something

"Alright then I won't hold it against you. Superboy is staying with wally for the time being until we have mount justice cleared out"

"What happened with clark?" he asked

"He didn't take having a son very well and is holding a grudge against you for giving his dna to the labs"

"You mean an even bigger grudge than he already had?" Selina rolled her eyes

"Where's mount justice?" dick had heard that it used to be the HQ of the justice league but never knew where it was

"It's at happy harbor; Rhode Island" he nodded "There will be another team mate for the team, martian manhunter's niece M'gann"

"She will be there in my place then the others should be happy with that" at least now the team wouldn't be too small

oOo

"What do you mean he said no" kid flash yelled at batman when he told them black bat would not be joining the team

"It is his decision and I approve of it" batman crosses his arms and caught a glimpse of flash sighing in relief

"Why does he always have to be such a…." wally grunted

"Kid don't worry perhaps in time black bat will change his mind and decide to join" Aqualad assured him

"Right maybe once he sees how cool it is he'll wanna join in the fun" kid flash smiled then turned back to batman "ok so what is this place anyway?"

"This cave is the original sanctuary of the justice league. We're calling It into service again since you three are determined to stay together and fight the good fight. You'll do it on league terms. Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor, black canary's in charge of your training. I will deploy you on missions"

"Real missions?" Kaldar asked

"Yes but covert"

"The league will still handle the obvious stuff, there's a reason we have these big target's on our chest's" flash pointed to the symbol on his chest

"But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter, batman needs a team that will operate on the side" Aquaman turned to batman

"The four of will be that team" batman finished

"Cool wait four?" Wally raised an eyebrow hadn't black bat declined their offer, batman looked behind them so they turned to see a girl martian walking in with martian manhunter

"This is the Martian Manhunter's niece Miss Martian" Batman introduced her

"Hi" she greeted them

"Liking this gig more every minute. Ah welcome aboard, I'm kid flash that's aqualad and superboy it's cool if you forget their names" Kid flash was already trying to impress the girl

When superboy and Aqualad approached them her shirt changed from white to pure black with a superman symbol on it, she smiled shyly up at superboy "I like your shirt" he smiled back at her

oOo

"Why were you out the other day dick?" Barbra asked when they got to his locker

"I caught a cold over the weekend but it passed quickly so I'm all better now" he assured her while gathering his books for class

"Wow I've never seen you so much as cough or sneeze since I met you"

"Things do happen" he smiled

"Well we should be getting to class don't want to ruin your perfect attendance anymore than you already have right?"

"Right" he closed the door to his locked and waved bye to Barbra heading to his first class pre-calculus. He knew he would have to make up a lot of work even thought it was only a day but that was the price of having such advanced classes.

"Hey dick!" he turned to see his friend Kevin and Julie running up to him

"Yeah?"

"Where were you yesterday it was pure torture in this class without you I swear I was going to die of boredom"

"Sorry won't happen again. But it's going to be a lot worse for me with all the make-up work I have to do" he looked over to the basket of work for absent students and was a couple of worksheets in it

"That's what you get buddy, but hey you wanna hang out with us after school to the mall for a while?" Julie asked

"I won't fall for that again and neither will Kevin right"

"Right there is no way in hell I am going to carry a bunch of shopping bags around while you girls shop"

"Aw come on I could use a couple of strong men to carry my heavy bags"

"If you pay us maybe" Kevin smirked

"Not a chance"

"Then no"

"Alright fine" she huffed and walked to her seat

"Anyway I already got plans at home and I have to do my extra homework" dick shrugged and walked to his seat

"Too bad" Kevin sighed

oOo

Aqualad and kid flash had gotten word that speedy would be stopping a crime at the docks of star city so decided to go and help him out while trying to persuade him to join the team

Two men were moving a large crate when a smoke bomb landed at their feet making them drop it in surprise and drop their guns. One of the guns slid over to brick's feet so he picked it up and aimed it at speedy standing on some trailers

"You again! I'm starting to get insulting green arrow's not messing up my operations personally" he began firing the gun at speedy but each time speedy dodged them while coming closer to the ground. Speedy got out an arrow and fired it at the gun destroying it in brick's hand and his suit

"Do you know what I pay for a suit my size!" he turned to his men "Scorch the earth boys"

Before the men could attack kid flash sped by taking away their guns then aqualad jumped out and used water ships to knock them all out

Brick picked off a piece of the ground and threw it at speedy but he dodged it while running and fired another arrow at him. Brick threw another rock at him but this time aqualad came out and sliced it in half while speedy fired a smoke arrow at him

"The cave is perfect it has everything the team will need for our covert missions" aqualad told him as he approached

Kid flash jumped onto the trailer they were standing on "And wait till you see superboy and Miss martian….but I saw her first"

Brick growled as he threw another rock at them, speedy and kid flash jumped out of the way while aqualad crushed the rock with his water weapons. Speedy fired more arrows at him and they made small explosions on his chest

"Tell arrow he shouldn't send boys to do a man's job" Speedy readied another arrow "Go ahead" and fired. Brick hadn't been expecting for red foam to come out and harden around him

"High density Polly earthen foam, nice!" kid flash held a thumbs up but he just turned around and walked away

"So speedy are you in?" aqualad asked

"Pass, I'm done letting arrow and the league tell me what to do. I don't need a babysitter or a clubhouse to hang out with the other kids, your junior justice league is a joke something to keep you busy and in your place. Black bat must of realized that so that's why he declined too" he walked into the shadows between two trailers "I don't want to be part of it either"

Aqualad and kid flash looked at each other once he left

"Is that really why black bat said no?" wally asked

"I do not think so kid I'm sure he has other reasons"

"Well it's starting to look that way to me" he crosses his arms

"You did not get the chance to talk to black bat after he left with batwoman I'm sure if we were to talk to him he'd give us the real reason on why he declined our offer"

"Then why don't we go do just that"

"What?"

"Let's go to Gotham and talk to him! Come on!" kid flash grabbed him and sped off the nearest zeta tube to Gotham

oOo

Black bat had been investigating into a break in at the local zoo, someone had stolen one of the rare black leopards that had just come in today and they had to find out who took it. Batman was trying to track the vehicle that had been reported at the zoo around the time it was kidnapped and batwoman was guarding the only other black leopard of its kind at the vet.

He shined his flash light onto the exhibit's gate to see the lock had been broken into then over tot eh ground to see footprints 'This wasn't a solo job' he narrowed his eyes at the number of footprints leading to the entrance

"Isn't it a little late to be looking at zoo animals?" he heard and shined his flash light over to see kid flash and aqualad behind him

"What are you doing here?" he sighed

"Just came to see how you were doing you know with the crime rate in this city" wally told him

"I can handle myself" he narrowed his eyes "Now what are you really here for?"

"We wanted to know why you will not join the team you would be a good addition and the cave has lots of equipment that you could use to train" aqualad told him

"I have my reasons and I train plenty back at our cave"

"Aw come on we did such a great job with suberboy don't you want to experience that thrill again"

"We destroyed public property and put lives in danger from the collapse. It's obvious we require more training so we do not fall into that situation again"

"We are getting training black canary is in charge of training us for our missions"

Dick remembered Dinah she would always put on a show being kind to him in public put behind the scenes she would be on edge around him always keeping up her guard like eh would spring back into assassin mode at any second 'I swear what will it take for these people to trust me' "My answer remains the same"

He began walking toward his motorcycle parked at the entrance when wally blocked the path and he glared at him "But you haven't even met Miss Martian she's a total babe I'm sure you will want to ask her out too right" he nudged him

"No thanks" he walked past him but was blocked again and was doing his best not to lose his temper

"Speedy's already turned us down too and you're the original partner the first in history we can't not have you on our team at least try it out once"

Dick had already allowed for Wally to persuade him into doing things with Cadmus and that had ended up in disaster so he didn't want to bring anymore attention to himself than he already had. When he was about to answer back he received a transmission on his com "Black bat" he answered

"Batwoman need your help someone is attempting to steal the other black leopard from the vet head over there fast and I will join you soon" batman called

"Right!" he nodded then turned to the others "I need to go!" he jumped on his motorcycle and drove off

"He can be so stubborn sometimes" wally groaned

"Black bat does not think we have the skill to fight as a team that is why he declined our offer" aqualad concluded from what he had heard

"We can fight perfectly we'll just have to prove it"

oOo

Once black bat arrived on the scene he had been able to help subdue the criminal with batwoman then found the other black leopard after interrogating him.

"You took longer to investigate at the zoo than you normally do on other missions" batwoman put her hands on her hips while batman was talking to Commissioner Gordon

"Kid flash and aqualad came by to persuade me into joining the team"

"And?"

"I declined I don't want to agitate the other league members because I am around their protégés"

"If it weren't for the league would you join the team?"

He thought about it for a moment he was still afraid of being on his own but knew he had the emergency beacon on his belt and trackers "I don't know"

"Perhaps you could be a part-time member of the team, just help on missions you are needed on to try and gain the league's trust"

"I have been fighting crime for five years and I have not gained the leagues trust at all"

"Maybe interacting with their partners will give them the push for it"

"I'll think about it"

oOo

The team received a transmission that Red Tornado was arriving at the cave so decided to go out and meet him as he landed

"Red Tornado!" wally waved

"Greetings is there a reason you intercept me outside the cave?"

"We hoped you had a mission for us" aqualad told him

"Mission assignments are the batman's responsibilities"

"But it's been over a week and…

"And will be tested soon enough" Red tornado held up a hand " for the time being simply enjoy each other's company"

"This team is not a social club"

"No but I am told social interaction is an important team building exercise perhaps you can keep busy by familiarizing yourself with the cave" He walked past them heading inside the cave

"Does he think we're falling for this?" wally grunted

"Oh I'll find out" M'gann tried reading his mind "I'm sorry I forgot he's a machine, inorganic I cannot read his mind"

"Nice try though so you wanna know what I'm thinking right now?" wally asked but was nudged away by aqualad

"And now we tour the clubhouse"

"Well superboy and I live here we can play tour guides" They all turned to superboy

"Don't look at me"

"Team building we'll all go"

Miss maritan led them through the front door of the cave to the back door "The cave is actually the entire mountain"

"It was hollowed out and reinforced by superman and green lantern in the early days of the league" wally said as they walked into the port of the cave

"Then why abandon it for the hall of justice?" superboy asked

"The cave's secret location was compromised" Aqualad explained

"So they traded it in for a tourist trap? Yeah that makes sense"

"If villains know of the cave we must be on constant alert" miss maritan put a finger to her head

"Don't worry were hiding in plain sight there's nothing to worry about" wally assured her

"Ah that makes sense"

Superboy sniffed "I smell smoke"

Miss Martian gasped "My cookies!" then flew down the hall to the kitchen. She levitated a skillet out of the oven to show 16 burnt cookies and put in on the counter "I was trying out Grammy Jones recipe from episode 17 of…uh..never mind"

"I'm sure they would have tasted great" aqualad assured her then heard munching and they all turned to see wally was eating the cookies anyway

"I have a serious metabolism" he said after seeing the weird looks he was getting

"I'll make more"

"It was sweet of you to make any"

"Thanks aqualad"

"We're off duty call me kaldur'ahm actually my friends call me kaldur"

"I'm wally" kid flash introduced himself "See we can all tell you our secret ID's speedy's is Roy Harper but unfortunately black bat's is unknown the bats have forbidden him from telling anyone his realname"

"Mine's no secret it's M'gann mo'ores but you can call me megan it's an earth name and I'm on earth now"

Superboy turned to leave _"Don't worry superboy"_ he grunted when he heard M'ganns voice in his head _"We'll find you an earth name too" _

"Get out of my head!"

"_What's wrong I don't understand everyone on mars communicates telepathically"_

"M'gann stop…..things are different on earth here your powers are an extreme invasion of privacy" aqualad informed her

"Besides Cadmus's little psychic genomes left a bad taste in his brain" wally pointed to superboy

"I didn't mean too…"

"Just stay out!" superboy growled then walked to the living area to sit on the couch

"Hello megan! I know what we can do" M'gann flew off with wally and kaldur right behind her. She came back when she noticed one was missing "Superboy please?"

"Don't talk to me" he got up after a moment and followed her with the others

/0/

"It's my Martian Bioship"

"Cute not aerodynamic but cute" wally looked the small thing over

"It's a rest silly I'll wake it" she moved her hand and the ship grew larger then turned to make a door and a few steps for them to go inside "Well are you coming?" the boys followed after a moment of hesitation

Some chairs and computers morphed once they were inside "Strap in for launch" wally sat in the chair next to Miss martian while superboy and aqualad sat in the two chairs at the front "Red Tornado please open the bay doors"

After the doors began opening M'gann levitated the ship up and flew out the doors "Incredible" wally looked to M'gann

At the front kaldur noticed superboy's expression "I may not have psycic powers but I can guess what you're thinking, you overreacted and you don't know how to apologize….just say sorry" superboy looked away

"He doesn't seem to like me much" M'gann whispered to wally

"You do remember he has super hearing" he reminded her and her eyes widened looking back to superboy "Why don't you show us a bit of that Martian shape shifting?"

M'gann smiled and stood up morphing from her feet into a feminine version of Black Bat, then into a feminine version of Kid flash "Is it wrong that I think I'm hot"

"You know you're not exactly going to fool anyone with those right?" superboy told her

"Mimicking boys is a lot harder" she confessed while sitting back down

"How did you know what black bat looked like anyway?" wally asked

"I've seen him in tv a bunch of times he's really famous back on mars"

"Lucky" he muttered

"And your clothes.." aqualad asked

"They're organic like the ship; hey respond to my mental commands"

"As long as they're the only ones" Superboy grunted turning back to the window

"Can you do that ghosting through walls thing that manhunter does?" wally asked

"Density shifting? No it's a very advanced technique"

"I know how you feel my uncle flash can vibrate his molecules right through a wall. I wasn't able to when I first got my powers but after a bit of training I was able to perfect it"

"Well here's something I can do" M'gann turned the ship into camouflage mode

"**Red Tornado to Miss Martian an emergency alert has been triggered at the happy harbor power plant I suggest you investigate covertly I'm sending coordinates"**

"received adjusting course"

"Tornado must be keeping us busy again"

"Well a simple fire lead to superboy we should find out what cause the alert" M'gann lowered the ship to the ground

"I think I know the cause" superboy looked out the right window to see a tornado coming at them. M'gann was able to get them away from the tornado after a while and land over the parking lot and all of them rushed inside

"You may address me as Mister twister" they saw a red machine inside that was causing the tornados. He formed a small tornado and blew superboy into a wall. Kid flash ran at him attempting to kick him but was blown out through the back door; Miss Martian and aqualad were blown into the walls as well

Miss Martian got back up and levitated a panel off a tube above him and smoke came out covering him, superboy yelled as he jumped up to attack him from above but was blown away knocking into miss martian then with another twister aqualad was sent crashing into them as well. Mister twister turned and left out the back door while they were recovering but kid flash came running at him

"What have you done to my team?"

"Embarrassed them largely" he created a twister knocking wally toward the side of the building but he never hit

"I got you wally" M'gann had levitated wally before he could hit the wall

"Whoa thanks"

"I would have thought you would have all learned your limitations by now"

"what do you want!" aqualad yelled

"Isn't it obvious? I'm waiting for a real hero"

"Read his mind find a weakness" Aqualad told M'gann

"I thought I wasn't supposed to do that?"

"It's ok with the bad guys" wally yelled

M'gann nodded and concentrated on Mister Twister "Nothing I'm getting nothing. Hello megan mister twister is red tornado in disguise he's inorganic an android and how many androids do you know that can generate tornados"

"Red tornado sent us here" Superboy reminded them

"And said we would be tested soon enough, this is our test" aqualad added

"Speedy and Black bat were right we are a joke" wally grumbled

Aqualad slammed his fist into his hand "We know who you are so let's end this!"

"Consider It ended" Mister twister made two larger twisters above him making a storm

"Uh can red tornado do that?" wally asked

"You think I'm tornado? Ironic" lighting flashed over the team making them fall to the ground. Superboy got up tearing off his torn jacket and jumped up at twister but was hit by lighting sending him back to the ground skidding over to the team

M'gann got up to see twister was approaching them so quickly used the bioship to hide them "Fine then I won't deny you children have power but playing hide and seek will not help me achieve my objective, so stay concealed, if you confront me again I will show no mercy!" he flew off

"What happened?" wally asked

" I placed the bioship between us.."

Superboy slammed his fist through a rock interrupting her "And that's supposed to make it right? You tricked us into thinking twister was red tornado"

"She didn't do it on purpose" Aqualad defended her

"It was a rookie mistake she is inexperienced" Wally added then turned to her "Hit the showers we'll take it from here"

"Stay out of our way" superboy grunted as he walked by. M'gann looked up to see kid flash run off after suberboy jumped off

"I was just trying to be part of the team.."

"To be honest I'm not sure we really have a team" aqualad walked by her going after the other two

oOo

Dick had to watch the news for his current events homework but once he turned the Tv on there was breaking news of tornado's forming all around happy harbor. His eyes widened at the sight of the small town being destroyed

"Whoa what's going on there?" Selina asked as she walked in

"Shouldn't the league be handling this? Some villain named Mister Twister is attacking happy harbor for their attention"

"I'll call to see what's going on" Selina was about to leave when they saw the tornadoes came to a stop and suddenly kid flash and superboy came and attacked mister twister then aqualad joined them a few minutes later

"The league's covert team is handling it" dick watched as they were almost defeated but m'gann disguised as Red Tornado came in to distract him and they were finally able to defeat him

"Seem they make a good team" Selina smiled

"Yeah they don't need my help see" dick assured her

Selina frowned when he said that she thought he was making it sound like he wasn't needed and they didn't need him on their team for any help "Are you almost done with your homework?"

"Yeah almost just got to finish up this report" he said as he was writing the last few lines on his paper for his world history class

"It's almost time for patrol we still gotta find out why most of our villains are going missing"

"Yeah I'll be down in a few minutes"

She nodded and left his room. He finished up his report putting back in his world history section folder then put everything back in his back pack setting it by his desk

Once he arrived down at the cave bruce and Selina were already dressed in their suits but before he headed over to the showcase to get his suit bruce stopped him

"Yes?" he lifted an eyebrow

"You will need to go on the team's next mission" his eyes widened he wasn't even part of the team so why does he have to go "I am sending them on a covert mission involving bane and since you can provide information about him you will be going on their mission"

"Can't you tell them the needed information during debriefing?"

"They may require more information during the mission which is why I'm sending you with them, they could use your help getting information needed as well"

After a moment of debate he sighed "When is the mission?"

"Soon"

_To be continued_

**I gave wally the power to move through walls for the failsafe episode I want to put in the league's point of view for that episode too. And after drop zone dick will be convinced to go on missions more often from selina's suggestion**


	19. Drop Zone

Drop Zone

"We're approaching Santa Prisca" M'gann announced

Black Bat had his arms crossed over his chest and stared out the window thinking about their mission

_Flashback_

"_De isle santa prisca, this island is the primary source of a dangerous and illegal neo-steroid, a strength enhancing drug sold under the name 'venom'. Infrared heat signatures indicate they still operating at full capacity, but all shipments of venom have been inexplicably cut off. That's where this team , this is a covert recon mission only. Observe and report, if the justice league needs to intervene we plan will require two drop zones" batman pulled up a map of santa prisca on the holographic computer_

_REDOGNIZED: BLACK BAT B-01_

"_What's he doing here?" wally lifted an eyebrow_

_Batman turned to him as soon as he appeared at the zeta tubes "You're late"_

"_Sorry, got caught up with Gordon" he explained. After school he had to explain to Barbra why he couldn't help work on their project but he would make it up to her. They had gotten into a little argument but eventually she agreed_

"_Black bat will be joining you on this mission" he answered Wally's question_

"_Wow really" Wally seemed excited to have him coming along_

"_It's very nice to meet you black bat" M'gann flew up to him and began shaking his hand "My names Miss Martian but my real name is M'gann mo'razz but you can call me Megan it's my earth name and I'm on earth now"_

_He nodded but she was still shaking his hand "You can stop shaking me hand now"_

"_Oh sorry" she blushed and moved away _

_End flashback_

"Drop zone A in thirty" M'gann interrupted his thoughts. He looked over to see aqualad was activating the stealth mode on his uniform

"Ready" Kaldur's chair melted into the floor

"Putting the bio-ship in camouflage mode" M'gann moved the ship closer to the ocean below them letting aqualad out

A few minutes later "_heat and motion sensors are now patche, data now on a continuous loop. Move in" _aqualad reported over the com-link and m'gann moved the ship over the forest

"Drop Zone B" everyone stood up out of their chairs as they melted into the floor and cable lines descended from the ceiling. Black bat attached it to his belt seeing kid flash do the same

"How cool is this?" kid flash activated the stealth mode on his suit trying to impress Miss martian

"Very impressive" Miss Martian morphed her clothes into a dark full-body suit replacing her usual costume making wally's jaw slack open.

"Uh that works too. Hey supey not too late to put on the new stealth tech"

Superboy crossed his arms over his chest "No capes, no tights, no offence"

Black bat found that very amusing no one on the team wore tights that he knew of because how would that protect you again crazy criminals or villains. He did realize he was the only one on the team that wore a cape unless you counted Miss martian's

"It totally works for you" M'gann stared dreamingly at superboy until she realized what she had said "in that you can totally do good work in those clothes" superboy looked away and out of embarrassment she pulled her hood over her head and went into camouflage mode

"Superboy attach a cable to yourself" black bat saw he didn't have one on him

"Don't need one" he looked away

Dick sighed this was a covert mission and he knew what superboy was planning to do "You cannot control your descent without the ability of flight. Creating a seismic event might cause unwanted attention"

Superboy glared but complied and attached a cable to his pants dropping to the ground below them with the others. "Aqualad drop zone B is a go" Miss Martian called over the com-link

"_Head for the factory, I'll track you GPS and rendezvous asap"_

Black bat brought up a holographic map of the island checking for available trails leading to the factory

"Roger that" the team headed straight into the forest and without any problems for the next twenty minutes or so heading straight for the factory

"Did you hear that?" superboy asked making the others pause. Black bat narrowed his eyes and activated the infrared lenses in his mask, he was about to jump into the trees when he remembered they were to stick together for their covert mission

"Uh no, wait is this a super hearing thing?" kid flash asked

"You do have great ears" Miss Martian complimented him

"Okay bats now what?" wally turned to him, he lifted an eyebrow shouldn't they be asking aqualad instead

"Check if we're being tracked using your infrared vision" he along with kid flash and superboy used their infrared vision to look through the forest for any other people

"I've got two different armed patrol units heading toward each other" kid flash announced

"That's odd" black bat frowned

"What is?" Miss maritian asked

"Usually there is no reason for two separate units to be this close, I'd assume that one group is coming the relive the others, but the numbers are inconsistent" he explained "This is only a theory, but I do not think they are allied with one another" suddenly there was the sound of gunfire in the area ahead of them

"Don't need super hearing for that" Kid flash commented

"_Swing wide and steer clear" _aqualad had been listening to their conversation

"Aw come on a few bullets can't hurt us" Wally whined and dashed off before anyone could stop him. Dick sighed what part of covert didn't these people understand

"Miss Martian camouflage yourself and do not reveal yourself unless you are needed. Attack from a distance but do not make your presence known. Superboy we need to assist kid flash" their cover was already blown anyway

As they approached the scene they saw one group was firing at kid flash. Black bat spotted bane standing with one of the groups; bane was one of Gotham's known villains but operated from santa prisca as well to get venom so he could fight them _'this mission just got much more dangerous' _

Superboy threw himself at bane and was able to overpower him since he had not activated his venom yet. Even if bane did activate it he could just tell Superboy to cut the tube on his back that would weaken him.

Black bat ran at the group that had been attacking bane's and recognized the robes that these men were wearing '_Kobra's men' _he knocked two of the men unconscious as continued fighting them. Miss martian used her telekinesis to throw two of kobra's men into a tree while remaining camouflaged

One of kobra's men was attempting to sneak up on black bat, dick saw him and prepared his weapons but at the last minute aqualad jumped out of the bushes and electrocuted the man knocking him unconscious.

Aqualad had the team bring all the men to nearby trees then used black bat's lasso's to tie them up. Then asked what had happened to cause their cover to be blown

"I recognize those uniforms, they belong to the cult of the kobra" dick informed the others as he was keeping a watchful eye on bane making sure he wouldn't try anything after all he had broken out of the lasso's before

"I'm certain batman would have mentioned it if he knew a dangerous extremist was running santa prisca's venom operation" Aqualad pointed out and the others agreed with him

"Batman sent us to investigate the sudden cease of venom acidity in the factory, perhaps kobra infiltrated the factory causing this"

"We got the info, kobra wanted super cultists, mystery solved radio daddybats and we'll be home—" kid flash said before being interrupted

"Korba's cultists are not using the venom to enhance their strength"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" aqualad asked

Black bat didn't like all this attention on himself "Are you not the leader of this team aqualad you make the decisions"

"We don't have a leader bats we just do things our own way" kid flash crossed his arms

Dick frowned that was no way to run a team, no wonder they didn't listen to orders they had no one to tell them and remind them what to do on the mission. "It is always best to have a leader on a team to form some type of plan"

"Well we don't need one we do fine just the way we are"

He sighed yes because getting beat up by an android, destroying most of happy harbor, attempting to blow their cover and succeeding in the second process was a fine way to operate a team. Batman always gave him and batwoman orders on what to do during a fight or while they were on patrol and even with the court when he was sent out on missions he had been given orders on what to do but there would be a punishment if he didn't

"What?!" wally yelled shocking him out of his thoughts, he lifted an eyebrow wondering what he was wanting "What are you sighing for your not even a part of the team you think were just a pathetic joke and that's why you didn't join right"

He frowned what had given them that idea "I do have my reason but that is not one of them"

"Oh come on you fought with us perfectly at Cadmus and even told us straight up that we need more training before we can go out on our own so you don't think we're even at your level of fighting because we aren't bats"

Dick glared this time he had been to hell and back with his training and just thought that the team would require more training so they could protect themselves during their fights he didn't want to have to take care of everything himself if the team was incapacitated. "My experience with crime has nothing to do with my opinion of the team"

"Oh sure because you feel your all high and mighty just because you've been fighting for your life for 5 years, born into a family of heroes, the famous boy wonder, and the perfect child who ever lived"

Black bat had formed his hands into fists trying to keep his calm but right now Wally was really pushing it he didn't know a thing about him so he had no right to assume what kind of life he had lived up to this point "I am not going to play this game with you kid flash so let's just get back to the mission" he gritted

"Yeah nothing to say in your defense because you know it's all true" wally crossed his arms

Before dick could burst out in anger aqualad interrupted him "Alright enough!" pushing them apart seeing black bat was losing his cool

Bane began laughing getting their attention "Such clever ninos, but you only know half the story, let me show you the rest, get you into the factory, reveal my secret entrance" dick knew this was obviously some sort of trap he knew bane would never help him without either something in it for him or it was to a trap

"There is a secret entrance, but he's also hiding something" Miss Martian crouched down in front of bane making her eyes glow

"Ah-ah-ah chica, bane is not that easy" bane smirked

"He's mentally reviewing football scores, in espanol, this could take a while"

"It's not that complicated the enemy of my enemy is my friend"

Aqualad turned to him "Black bat, what do you suggest we do?"

He knew this time they were asking him because he knew more about bane then any of them did. He got out a knife from his belt and threw it at the lasso freeing bane "We comply for now"

oOo

The team followed bane while black bat kept a watchful eye on him for any sudden movements or any sign of a double-cross attempt, they were brought to the edge of a cliff so he activated magnifying lenses in his mask spotting several shipments of venom being carried by the cultists

"Look at all that venom" kid flash used the magnifying lenses in his goggles "Someone made a buy but kobras not selling it to his usual…."

Aqualad interrupted him "We need to identify the buyer"

Black bat saw bane move away from the others so followed him seeing the team hadn't noticed yet. "You don't trust me do you nino?" bane asked with a smirk

"Do you really need to ask bane?" he narrowed his eyes

Bane laughed "At least one of you ninos isn't completely hopeless. You were always my favorite sidekick you had a bit of aggressiveness to your fighting style when you first began I enjoyed that but I guess it grew out of you"

Dick had been aggressive when he first began fighting because he hadn't gotten rid of his assassin training all the way yet so he ended up using some of those techniques luckily no one got killed but just some broken bones. His mom and dad had taken him off patrol for a while when they began noticing that and had trained it out of him

Bane tossed aside a large boulder that was blocking a secret entrance into the factory

"So, El Luchador is our leader" kid flash asked sarcastically as they followed bane through the tunnel. After walking for a while they saw bane press a button on a hidden consol making disguised rock doors open up into a storage room. They walked in with caution keeping an eye out for anyone around that could notice them

"Stay back, I'll get out intel before the boy wonder" kid flash rushed off giving the others no chance to stop him. Dick lifted an eyebrow since when did this turn into a competition into who can get the intel faster, he sighed knowing how wally could be anyway.

"Great chain of command" Bane commented but he was not in the mood to argue, this team really needed a leader before someone ended up getting critically injured or killed. He was not going to offer to be because for one he wasn't even on the team, two the justice league hated him, and three he didn't want to reveal anything on his person that could reveal anything about his past.

"Can you take us to where you usually store the venom?" bane grunted yes before heading off with them silently moving behind him. They came to the cargo bay staying hidden behind some crates watching the cultists as they transferred the venom drug outside into the open

"It's a massive shipment" Aqualad stated

"Yeah they're only taking new products off the line, they're not touching this venom" superboy motioned to the crates they were hiding behind

"Maybe freshness counts or something" Miss martian suggested

"Venom is an artificial compound, scientifically altered to have an extended resistance to deteriorating. If properly sealed venom can last up to twenty years" black bat explained having read about it over the bat computer when he had first come in contact with bane in Gotham

The others were surprised by his knowledge but bane was not as pleased seeing that the bats knew so much about his product. Superboy informed them that he could hear that a helicopter was landing outside the factory

"We need to find out what's going on over there" aqualad looked to the direction of the helicopter "Miss Martian activate your camouflage mode and see if you can get a closer look. We'll go back into the warehouse and see if we can find out what kobra has been doing with the venom"

Miss martian nodded and complied with aqualads orders while the rest of them went with bane back into the factory. They stayed on the railing above them to avoid detection while the cultists were moving around below them

"**Aqualad I'm sending you a telepathic image of the buyer now"** Miss martian telepathically communicated sending an image of a man with a gray hockey mask and blond hair

"Sportsmaster he is the buyer?" aqualad asked

"Lately sportsmaster has been acting as a gun for hire he may be representing another criminal" black bat suggested. Aqualad nodded and pressed his communicator

"Kid flash we need to—" he stopped when he heard nothing but static "Ugh I cannot reach kid or the league, what do we do now?"

"I know what we do" bane smirked gripping the railing they were on and black bat was too late to stop him when he jumped onto the factory floor causing the cultists to fire

"What is he doing?" aqualad growled before a giant man shot in through a window making them jump to the floor

"Mammoth?" black bat lifted an eyebrow as the beast roared. Kobra finally made his presence known ordering everyone to attack causing the team to separate. He attacked three cultists that had tried to attack him dodging the bullets that came at him and throwing down some smoke pellets. Through the smoke he was able to immobilize all the cultists, once the smoke cleared he saw the bane had disappeared

A sudden explosion knocked Miss Martian into some in fermenting tanks, he heard something behind him and was able to duck at the last minute before a metal bat hit him

"Seems there's a worthy sidekick here for my skills" he turned around to see sportsmaster he groaned because the bats had come in contact with him before and defeated him each one time at least and during the early years during his aggressiveness he ended up breaking his neck with a kick

"How about I return the favor" sportsmaster said as if reading his mind, dick got out an erisma stick and metal charged against metal with lance's metal bat he had retrieved

"**Everyone online?"** Miss Martian called telepathically

He was surprised by the sudden voice in his head causing him to be distracted enough to let sportsmaster to be able to punch him in the stomach sending him skidding across the ground but he quickly flipped over landing back on his feet and dodged the next attack. While the others were talking he kicked with both his feet sportsmaster in the stomach sending him to the ground giving him time to let the others know he was online too.

When sportsmaster threw some shurikens at him he jumped up landing on a tank behind him and the shurikens ended up making the tank explode so he quickly covered himself with his cape to avoid any injuries.

"**We need to retreat"** Aqualad ordered. Kid flash rushed ahead to clear a path for them with the others closely behind him, he threw down some more smoke bombs to follow them without detection reentering the secret passageway. Mammoth had caused a disturbance causing the passage to almost collapse

"Superboy, the support beams!" aqualad yelled so superboy destroyed the support beams behind them making the tunnel collapse so no one could follow them. In the dark tunned he pulled out one of his flash lights letting aqualad see to pull out a red glowing stick

'This mission is officially a failure' he sighed they had already more than blown their cover but interfered with the shipments and caused a disturbance in the factory. He leaned against a wall and crossed his arms

"Man we've really messed up" Wally sighed

"What do we do now if we go out we might be captured and we can't even contact the justice league" Miss Martian asked

"We need to come up with a plan" Black bat spoke up

"What do you suggest?" aqualad asked

He sighed did he have to do everything for them they needed to know how to do these things without outside help "First you need to come up with some sort of organization between the members of this team"

"The whole leader thing again?" superboy asked

"Yes a team always requires a leader to give orders that the team must follow so the plan will succeed with no issues"

"So who's gonna be the leader?"

He wanted to smack himself on the forehead "Leadership is usually chosen by the members of the team that they see fit will run the team efficiently. If one of you forced leadership it would be more like an act of dictatorship which will cause any plan to fail"

The team thought about his words for a minute seeing who would be the best person to organize their team. The person had to be smart, skilled, a good tactician, and would remain neutral with anything they came up with

"Why don't you join the team and become our leader then?" Miss Martian asked

His eyes widened he had thought they would choose aqualad.

"You do have the most experience and the most knowledge on the criminal world" aqualad added

"Please I could rub circles around his…" Kid flash began but was interrupted by superboy

"Come on wally you know he's the best suited for the job"

Dick didnt know how the league would feel about their protégé's being lead by an ex-assassin "I have been thinking of being a part-time member of the team but I would have to decline on being the leader"

"What why?!" wally yelled

He sighed "Please don't bring this up to any member of the league but they do not trust me"

"Why I've never heard of this before?" Aqualad asked

"Just something I had done in the past that they can't seem to get past until I've fully proven myself that I can be trusted I am not seen a real hero to them. I suggest you have aqualad be your leader" the other's looked at each other for a bit but agreed

"Then I accept the burden once this issue with the league had past I expect you to lift it from my shoulders" he nodded "Alright our first priority is to stop the shipment from leaving the island"

"I was thinking the same thing" Wally smirked

oOo

"Sportsmaster is the employer/Buyer, but it does not make sense. He does not have the means to acquire the blockbuster formula or to align himself with kobra" Black Bat announced to the others

"And neither of them have the chops to combine blockbuster with venom, that took some major nerd-edge" wally commented

"I believe the expression is 'tip of the iceberg'" aqualad said as bane appeared at the entrance dropping a syringe that had been filled with venom, seeing as his muscle began growing tremendously

"Halt ninos…I'm feeling explosive" Bane mocked and dick saw the numerous bombs attached to the passage way walls

"You betrayed us, why?" aqualad asked

"I want my factory back" he answered **"Kid, you're going to need a running start" **"So I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies or die trying. If the latter, the justice league would certainly come to avenge their sidekicks and when the smoke cleared, santa prisca would be mine once more, blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect" he didn't notice the blur zoom past him

"With what? This trigger thingy?" kid flash asked leaning against a tree twiddling the trigger to taunt him

Bane growled and tried to punch kid flash but was levitated into the air by Miss Martian. Superboy approached him smirking with a fist in his hand "Finally drop him" once she did superboy took one swing at bane knocking him out

"Now we go after sportsmaster and Kobra" aqualad announced "Here's what we do"

oOo

Black bat charged at the cultists to distract kobra long enough for the others to destroy the shipments. He shot out a grappling hook tying up kobra's second in command and landing right in front of them "You do not wish to get your palms dirty?"

"True but sometimes even a god must stoop to conquer" kobra removed his cloak

He changed at kobra using a punch to the face to distract him for the real attack of a knee to his stomach making him stumble back in surprise and taking the opening he lunged at kobra again slamming his elbow into his side earning a slight grunt. He flipped back once korba recovered and avoided a kick by sliding on the ground to the back of him then kicking him in the back with both his feet

He heard the sound of a helicopter crashing in the distance then saw it had collided with the factory causing it to explode as well

"I am surrounded by insects" Kobra grunted as he got up off the ground and saw the rest of the team had joined black bat. Kobra looked over the battlefield realizing he was the only one standing "Another time then" he vanished into the jungle and they made no move to stop him

"Batman's gonna kill us!" wally yelled seeing the destroyed factory

Dick turned around the see the scene before him. He knew how his dad could be when they failed a mission but hopefully this would be one of those times he'd go easy on them

"Hey maybe you can call in your mom to soften him up before we get there" wally suggested

He frowned seeing that wally wanted batwoman to try and seduce batman to soften him up "She's unavailable" his mom had gone on a flight to Europe seeing as her job was being a flight attendant

"Was it wrong for us to continue the mission?" aqualad asked

"I am not sure how batman will react to the damage we caused but a good leader should see into the mistakes he made and try to improve them for the next mission" Aqualad nodded, he probably would have done the same thing anyway

oOo

"A simple recon mission, observe and report. You'll each receive a written evaluation detailing your many mistakes until then…..good job" black bat inwardly smiled at batman's words "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success and how you choose who leads, determines character"

The team nodded and after they slowly disbanded back to the other parts of the cave. Batman and black bat were left alone

"Have you decided to join the team?"

"After this mission I learned that the team was very unorganized in the beginning but we were able to come to an understanding of where everyone stands. I have decided to become a part-time member of the team just to help on missions when I'm needed"

"I would have thought you would have taken the position as leader"

"You know as well as I do the league wouldn't stand for that" he sighed

Batman nodded knowing that already "You should be getting home agent a called saying Barbra had been trying to contact you

He groaned he thought the fight was over

_To be continued _


	20. Schooled

Schooled

Black bat's eyes widened at the sight of the Robotic batsuit, it looked like it had gone through a meat shredder, one of the arms and the head was torn off, there was a huge hole through the stomach of it, the foot was gone, and on the shoulder it looked like a sword had tried to slice it in half

He turned to his mom "How..?"

"Bane wanted revenge for destroying his factory so when we were fighting him using the suit.." she gestured to it

"So you want me to fix it?" he asked he didn't really have a problem with it anyway he liked working on mechanics

"Well you know I don't know much in this department of being a bat and bruce is at work so yes I was hoping for that"

"Sure" he shrugged and was about to get to work

"We don't have all the supplies yet to fix it here" Selina put a hand on his shoulder "But Mount Justice does so we could transport the suit there and you can fix it in the mechanics room"

"Fine" he sighed

oOo

A school bus was driving over a bridge when suddenly the road began collapsing and the wires holding it together snapped falling onto the road. The school bus driver turned right to avoid being hit skidding toward the edge of the bridge when it was hit by a tractor trailer making run through the concrete of the wall and when it was hit by another car it cause it to drive further off the road

Over at the metropolis branch of Wayne enterprises, Bruce Wayne saw the bus was about to fall off the bridge so walked to his desk and pressed a button hidden under a small statue opening a drawer to his desk revealing a bat suit. Bruce heard a something and turned to see superman approaching the bus

Superman flew under the bridge keeping it from collapsing and used his heat vision to weld the metal to hold the bridge together

Superboy jumped onto the bridge and then onto the road causing it to shake interrupting superman, superboy ran over to a car and lifted it back onto the road. Bruce looked through some binoculars to see Superboy had come to help his 'mentor'. Superboy ran over to the bus and began trying to lift it back onto the road but it was lifted from his hands and saw that superman had taken it and then put it back down on the road

"I had that"

"I didn't want to take the chance, as it is your landing could have destabilized the bridge"

"It didn't"

"But it could have, we don't yet know the limits of your powers"

"Well maybe…you could..you know help me figure that out"

Superman looked away but then looked back to him "Batman's got that covered" his com began ringing

"I know but…"

Superman ignored him and answered his com "Superman…wait arrow slow down what's attacking…..no I'm defiantly available….coordinates…..acknowledged….on my way" he turned back to his 'partner' "Sorry superboy duty calls" and flew up into the air

While he was flying away he received another transmission "I already got the alert bruce"

"I know clark but we need to talk"

oOo

At Mount Justice the entire team was in the mission room playing a game along with black bat. Batwoman had asked him to try and interact with the team more while she set up the robotic bat suit in the mechanics room

Aqualad and Kid Flash were playing a game of air hockey but kaldur had just lost the round

_REDOGNIZED: SUPERBOY B-04_

Superboy appeared in the zeta tube entrance and walked through the air hockey holographic board ignoring his teammates

"Hi superboy how was metropolis?" M'gann asked

They heard someone clear their breath and turned to see Black Canary and Martian Manhunter walking in "Ready for training everyone" she asked and then saw black bat was there and immediately got on alert

Dick groaned seeing her tense up even through the team knew about their mistrust in him they were still surprised by the sudden move

"Black Canary..uncle J'onn" M'gann walked up and hugged her uncle

"M'gann I was in the neighborhood so I thought I'd see how you were adjusting"

"A few bumps but I'm learning"

"That's all I can asked" While they were talking superboy turned to leave and batwoman had arrived back in the room

"Stick around class is in session" Black canary called over to superboy

Black bat was about to leave to fix the suit when batwoman stopped him too"Maybe you could learn something too" he lifted an eyebrow he had already been trained enough but she ushered him to so he nodded

Black Canary walked into the center of the ring and it lit up below her "I consider it an honor to be your teacher…I throw a lot at you everything I've learned from my own mentors" she began taking off her jacket and winced from her bandaged arm "And my own bruises" rubbing her arm

"What happened?" M'gann asked

"The job…now" throwing her jacket to the floor "Combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms, you should always be acting never reacting…I'll need a sparing partner"

Kid flash immediately offered "Right here yeah!" walking up to her finishing his banana "After this I'll show you my moves"

Black canary smirked before throwing a punch at him, he blocked it with his arm but was too slow to avoid his feet being kicked out from under him knocking him to the floor

Kaldur and M'gann winced when he hit the floor but the bats only held a blank expression

"Ooh that hurts so good"

"Good block but did anyone see what he did wrong?" she asked while helping wally back to his feet

'He allowed you to dictate the term of the fight by being to confident' black bat answered mentally but no one answered because they didn't see anything wrong with his defense move

"He allowed me to dictate the terms of…"

"Oh please" superboy interrupted her "with my powers the battle is always on my terms, I'm a living weapon and this is a waste of my time"

"Prove it" Canary challenged him surprising him but he took it walking into the ring. They stared at each other for a second until superboy throwing a punch at her but she contoured by grabbing his wrist and throwing him a few feet away from her

This seemed oddly familiar to black bat when he first began his own training except for the anger part, batwoman looked down to see his expression "perhaps you can help him control that anger"

Superboy got up growling and glaring at Black Canary

"You're angry good. But don't react channel that anger into-" she was interrupted when he rushed at her again

Dick raised an eyebrow he knew superboy might be feeling a bit insulted by being so humiliated in this fight but that was no reason to be so angry

Black canary dodged his attach by flipping over him then kicking his feet out from under him making him growl

"That's it I'm done!" he growled ignoring the hand to help him up. She laid a hand on his shoulder

"Training is mandatory" he knocked her hand off his shoulder and was about to leave when the holographic screen pulled up in the mission room

"_Batman to the cave, five hours ago a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying and duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. Arrow called in reinforcements which nearly proved disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combat" _

"Whoa one guy with the powers of the entire league" Kid flash was shocked while the video of the fight played in front of them

"_In the end it took eight leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android_

"T.O marrow's doing?" black bat asked

"_Good guess black bat, but Red Tornado doesn't think so"_

"The technology bears the signature of professor Ivo"

Black Bat's eyes widened now 'Aw s**t' Professor ivo had done a job or two for the talons to help assemble their bot for training he had personally met with ivo during this time because he had to learn how to make and repair them when he wasn't there

Batwoman was just as shocked because dick had told her and bruce everything that had happened with the court including meeting Ivo and turned to batman on the screen after seeing their son's expression

"Ivo, but he is dead" aqualad stared wide eyed at batman

"So we all thought or hoped" Black canary commented

"_To make certain this treat is permanently neutralized we're sending two trucks carrying the android to two separate star lab facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation. Every precaution has been taken. We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo, or anyone, tries to recover the remains. You will split into two undercover teams to safeguard the real trucks"_

"Yes road trip" wally cheered

"So now we take out your trash?" superboy grunted

"_You have something better to do?"_

"Is black bat coming with us?" Miss Martian asked making him tense up

Dick looked away while his parents sent worried glances at him _"That is up to him"_ batman turned off the screen leaving him to decide

"Why don't you all go get ready I need to talk to black bat" batwoman told them and everyone left them in the mission room

"I can't do this mom"

"Dick how would Ivo recognize you now, you have on your black bat suit covering half your face and even if he did the talons are gone how would he contact William if he doesn't know where they are"

"He might have ways"

"It is very unlikely that he will even appear and you need to help your teammates if worse comes to worse you always have your emergency beacon"

He thought about it and he had met Ivo when he was seven he probably wouldn't even remember him anyway "Alright"

"Just make sure to be careful"

oOo

On a field in Litchfield county the justice league were surrounding the 6 trucks while they prepared the depart along with some military forces. Superman turned and used his X-ray vision to look through the bushes to see the team was already prepared on their motorcycles and turned away when superboy turned to him

"Star, Boston is a go"

"Star, Manhattan is a go"

Green arrow nodded to batman and he signaled for the trucks to move letting them drive off, the team followed, Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Kid flash followed the truck going right while Superboy and Black Bat followed the truck going left

Flash, Captain atom and Red Tornado took off into the sky and superman was about to follow when batman put a hand on his shoulder "I told you we need to talk"

oOo

"You seem distracted?" Dick asked superboy seeing his angered expression

"Canary, what business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength"

"Defeating foes more powerful that you is part of the job. We all learn that sooner or later but strength is not all it takes to win a battle" Superboy clearly didn't like his answer because he sped up to the truck away from him

He sighed and caught up with the speed of the truck and superboy

oOo

"Do you think Superboy's ok? I wasn't reading his mind I swear but anger flowed off him in waves" Miss martain asked

"Tch surfed that wave just give him space" kid flash moved closer to M'ganns motorcycle "Me stick as close as you want"

"Superboy just need time to cool off" Aqualad told her "Maybe a quiet mission will clear his head"

The corn field behind them began rustling and laughing robotic monkeys flew out toward the truck attaching to it

Aqualad pressed his com " Black Bat, Superboy our truck is under attack"

oOo

"Well aware of that aqualad" Dick knew that Ivo would find some way to get his android back he just hoped he didn't until the parts were at the facilities.

The same robotic monkeys attached to their truck as well

"I hate monkeys" Superboy growled

The monkey's began cracking the windshield of the truck frightening the driver making him move the truck around to try and get them off

Black bat pressed the screen on his motorcycle switching it into battle mode making it split into two parts "Switch yours to battle mode" he called over to superboy

"No point" he jumped off his motorcycle and landed on top of the truck. The motorcycle feel skidding across the road toward black bat's so he quickly jumped off and launched a grappling hook to the truck kicking off a few monkeys

The motorcycle's second part began firing lasers at the monkeys from behind the truck but two monkeys landed on it and dismantled it. A dick was climbing up the truck he saw four of the monkeys were lifting superboy up into the air then dropped him onto the road

Dick kicked off another monkey from the back and then jumped onto the top of the truck pulling out some erisma sticks and began swatting off some of the monkey's he turned around to the ones behind him but superboy landed on the top making him lose his balance

The tires must have been blown off because the truck had begun skidding across the road so quickly moved to the driver's door opening it and grabbing the man before jumping into the corn field

The truck fell on it's side and flipped a few times until it came to a stop, the monkeys grabbed the crate holding the parts and flew off with it. Black bat helped the driver out of the corn field back to road just as the monkey's were leaving he turned when he heard superboy grunt

Superboy lifted the truck off him and his vision finally cleared seeing the monkey's were leaving and jumping after them

"Superboy!" He yelled because the clone couldn't take on ivo by himself with the resources he had but saw he was ignoring him

"_Aqualad to Black Bat we lost our cargo did you…"_

"It's gone…along with my partner" he watched as he continued to jump after the monkeys

oOo

"_Aqualad to superboy radio your position we'll help you"_

"I don't need help! Don't want any!" he growled taking out the com and throwing it on the road as he continued after the monkeys

"_Superboy?"_

oOo

"_It seems he has left his com"_

"Super now we can't even track him" wally yelled

"He's out of my telepathic range, this professor Ivo, if he is alive, seems to be two steps ahead of us….maybe we should contact Red Tornado?" M'gann suggested

"Tornado always tells us to handle things ourselves and the mission can succeed if we recover the parts before they're reassembled" aqualad felt they could still win

"That's a great plan, except for the part about us not knowing where to look" Kid flash argued

oOo

Dick knew they couldn't let Ivo get control of that android again "Perhaps there is a way to track the android" he walked over to one of the monkeys, Ivo always had trackers in each of his androids "We would have received notice if the other trucks had been attacked so the monkeys obviously knew which trucks to target" he hacked into the monkey's system "They have GPS signal to the android so we can track them…..it looks like the parts were reassembled converging on…..gotham city" he felt his stomach drop seeing it was in his home city

"_That far south? M'gann and I won't make it there anytime soon, I'm sending Kid flash on ahead to meet with you, aqualad out" _

Black bat pressed a button on his wrist signaling for what was left of his motorcycle to come to him. He didn't want to be alone out here being an easy target if outnumbered or outmatched and he relieved himself by knowing he was heading home to where his parents likely were to help him if needed

oOo

"I'll have the apple pie" Clark told the waiter but kept his eye on the man across from him

"The devil's food please" Bruce ordered too and the waiter left them to get the orders

"Something tells me this isn't about dessert"

"The boy need you"

"No, he need you….he need red, I'm just a constant reminder of what he's not" clark argued looking away from him

"Sorry clark but you're dead wrong" Bruce told him making him look back at him with a scowl on his face "Look I know he….troubles you, but he's here, you have to get over the how and why. Trust me on this….this boy needs his father"

"I'm not his father and I already know the how on this bruce. Your son stole my Dna and gave it away in order for him to be made so the boy should be more your responsibility than mine"

"The boy was created by your Dna even thought dick got it for Cadmus, he isn't responsible for a mission he was sent on five years ago for the talons"

"Maybe once the team knows Richard was a murderer he'll come clean and tell them how superboy was created he is still keeping secrets" Clark finally stood up and looked to the kitchen "I'll take that pie to go" walking away from the table

oOo

As dick was approaching the outskirts of Gotham City he heard kid flash finally catch up with him seeing he had changed back into his kid flash personal.

"You still tracking the parts?" wally asked taking in that he had changed into his black bat personal too

"They were heading through gotham but veered" he looked to the electronic map on his motorcycle's screen and his eyes widened "They're at my school!" 'oh come on' now they had to destroy his school too

oOo

Inside gotham academy was a fancy showcase filled with trophy's and awards. Right in the middle of it was a picture of one of their most promising students 'Richard Wayne' holding his newest award from a mathlete competition and the same award was right in the showcase below it

But both the picture and the trophy were destroyed when superboy was launched into the showcase, the android came up to him grabbing him then threw him to a couple of lockers down the hall breaking at least eight of them. The door to one of the lockers opened revealing a drawing of superman with hearts around him, superboy growled at it and punched it then ran at the android but was punched through a wall into a science classroom making a crater in the back wall

"That all you got?"

**Access captain atom **the androids hand lit up and blasted superboy throw a couple more classrooms until he finally landed in the gym.

Superboy heard clapped and looked up to see professor Ivo sitting on the bleachers with two of the robotic monkeys "I don't usually attend these things but…..this was too good to miss"

**Access superman**

oOo

"There's the school" Black bat announced as kid flash sped in the doors while he came to a stop on the motorcycle and ran in taking in the damage that had been done

He frowned when he saw that some of the front doors were gone and there were a few small craters in the lobby but when he saw the award showcase he was shocked his newest award was destroyed it had taken a lot of studying and practice to be able to win that and with the competition he had it was a miracle he won but now it was destroyed

He growled and ran toward the gym he heard the fighting taking in the rest of the damage as well

oOo

Kid flash rushed into the gym grabbing superboy before he was hit by the android making him cause a hole in the floor instead.

Black bat had just arrived on the other side of the gym when kid flash came over to him putting superboy down. He saw the android and threw one of his disks at it

**Martian Manhunter** the disk ended up going straight threw the android instead hitting the wall behind it causing a hole in the wall **Access Red Tornado **a tornado formed at his feet and he flew over to the three heroes blowing them all away

**Access Captain Atom ** the android prepared a blast in his hand at kid flash but he ran out of the way under the bleachers destroying the wall behind him, he ran around and back over to the android **Access Black Canary **kid flash was blown away from the screech

**Superman **the android stopped a punch from superboy and punched him into the bleachers behind black bat. **Martian Manhuster** the android entended his arms swatting the disks that had come at him then at black bat

Kid Flash ran up to the android but was grabbed **Superman **the android began squeezing kid flash making him yell in pain **Martian Manhunter **the android turned intangible to avoid an arrow that had been sent at him letting go of kid flash

The arrow landed by Black Bat making his frown

Kid flash sped away from the android as superboy ran out of the bleachers at him **Access Black Canary **it grabbed superboy by the wrist and threw him over to the other bleachers

Black bat threw more disks at the android but It dodged it **Superman **the android tried to hit him with heat lasers but kid flash came and grabbed dick pushing him out of the line of fire

"Don't you miss the thrill of the hunt black bat?" Ivo called over to him shocking him "Oh come now you didn't think I would recognize you even with that disguise"

He growled up to him "Don't worry boy I'll keep you're secret I'd much rather it come from you than from me"

Superboy jumped and tried to attack ivo but he ran out of the way before he hit. "Amazo protect your master, priority alpha" he jumped away to avoid another attack from superboy

**Captain Atom **The android blasted superboy

As the two monkey's were helping ivo up he was kicked out of their hands by black bat skidding across the floor "My turn!" kid flash yelled as he ran to Ivo **Access Superman **the andoid stomped his foot on the ground launching kid flash onto the bleachers

Black Bat send another disk at the android **Martian Manhunter **it turned intangible just as superboy landed in front of it and punched it through the face while it was still intangible **Superman **when it turned back to normal superboy's hand was through its machinery causing technical difficulties and made the head blow up

"We need to dismantle him now!" Black bat yelled s he ran over to the android

"Dude the guy's has no head" wally came over to them

"Don't take any chances" Aqualad and Miss martian had finally arrived

M'gann landed next to superboy helping him up "Superboy, are you alright?"

"Fine"

"Hey where's Ivo?" kid flash asked

Dick felt his stomach drop Ivo had gotten away and had recognized him leaving him with so many questions 'does he know where the talons are? Will he contact William? Is he really going to keep my identity a secret?'

oOo

"The amazo android is in pieces again, safely being analyzed at the two separate star labs, but Ivo escaped and since he originated the tech he's obviously more dangerous than the android" Aqualad reported

"Capturing the professor will be a league priority" Black canary told them

Martian manhunter crossed his arms "But we understand your mission encountered….other complications "

Batman walked up to the team "Complications come with the job your ability to handle them impressed the league"

"The whole league?" superboy asked

"Given time yes kryptonians as you know have very hard heads" superboy smiled at his comment "Of course there's no shame in asking for help that's why the league exists because there's some problems even we can't handle individually"

"Aw please if we needed the help we wouldn't even be able to ask" kid flash pulled out the arrow he had gotten from black bat "Look familiar? You were following us babysitting you still think we're weak"

Batman took the arrow "We didn't follow you" giving it to Green Arrow and he pulled out one of his own arrows showing them they were different

"And that's not your arrow" wally looked the two arrows over "But that can only mean speedy!"

"He has our backs" Aqualad agreed

"Souvenir!" Kid flash ran up and took the arrow from green arrow

Batman saw that his son was being awful quiet even more than usual and saw he wasn't even paying attention to anything around him. "You're awfully quiet" he called over to him getting his attention "What's wrong?"

He looked away "Nothing"

Wally turned his attention to the two bats "Oh yeah bats" getting black bat's attention "What did Ivo mean when he asked you 'don't you miss the thrill of the hunt?'"

Dick's eyes widened as well as all the league members in the room turning all their attention to the boy, batman was in shock as well and saw everyone was staring at his son "Black bat head home now!"

He didn't argue at all and quickly turned around going into the zeta tubes

_RECOGNIZED: BLACK BAT B-01_

"What was that about?" wally asked

"Team can you leave us alone we need to talk to batman" Black canary asked

They shrugged seeing no problem with that and left toward the living area

"Bruce.."

"Don't even start I know what's at stack already"

"The team is in danger now they could be used against the league!" Green Arrow yelled

"This isn't my son's fault!"

"What if Ivo knows where the talons are they could come back and kill you all" Black canary yelled

"I'm sure dick is wondering the same thing I don't have time to argue with you!" he yelled and turned back to the zeta tubes

_RECOGNIZED: BATMAN 02_

oOo

When batman arrived back in the Batman cave he found it completely empty he panicked thinking dick had run away but he saw the black bat suit was in its showcase and his motorcycle was parked on the third floor

He quickly took off his bat suit heading back up to the manor

"Ah Master Bruce welcome home" Alfred greeted him

"Alfred where's dick?" he asked

"Oh Master Richard came home a few short minutes ago but headed straight to his room Miss Selina had gone up to see what was wrong"

"Thanks" he headed straight for his son's room but saw Selina come out of it just as he was approaching the door "How is he?"

"He wants to be left alone for now" she sighed feeling really guilty "I persuaded him into going on this mission if I hadn't this wouldn't have happened"

Bruce comforted her as they walked away from their son's door letting him be alone "I don't think we should leave him alone what if he runs"

"He won't I asked him if he was planning on leaving but he promised me on his life that he wouldn't"

"I'll go up and check on him in a few minutes"

_To be continued_

**I didn't really know how to end this chapter since it would have just had some daddybats moment at the end and a lot of comforting and assuring dick he would be safe. I wanted to put in a nightmare of dick having a nightmare of William coming for him but I decided to leave that for another chapter**


	21. Infiltrator

Infiltrator

Dick hadn't left his room in what felt like weeks but had only been about three days; it was a good thing school was closed for repairs for the amazo android. He had done nothing but lie in bed during the entire time; he only got up to shower or use the bathroom but that was it. Selina, Bruce, and Alfred had all tried getting him to leave his room but knew it was useless and he would leave when he was ready.

Bruce had come to his room to talk to him about his finding on the mysterious arrow that had saved kid flash from being crushed to death

"Artemis crock the second daughter of Paula crock and lance crock" Dick sat up in his bed and looked over the folder that had Artemis's profile. She was the daughter of two well known criminals one was retired though; he looked up at his dad "What does the league have to say?"

"They want to recruit her for the team"

Dick closed his eye and sighed "Speedy doesn't want to join the team so Artemis should be a good replacement for an archer teammate"

Bruce lifted an eyebrow he had expected dick to be angry that the league was accepting this girl right away but he had been working for five years to do just that "You're not angry"

He shrugged "Artemis has only been trained for the criminal life she hasn't actually committed any crimes, I on the other hand have so I can see why the league is being so accepting"

"Green Arrow has offered to be her mentor…he and I are going to meet with her at her address to ask if she wants to join the team" he saw dick didn't really care about that fact "Because I'm going to be busy I need you to help batwoman with patrol"

His eyes widened he would have been fine with being around the house but leaving the manor he could be a perfect target for anything being so out in the open. Bruce saw his reaction so laid a hand on his shoulder "Dick, Selina is going to be with you during the entire time you have to get your confidence back remember you can take on any talon except for William and it is unlikely that he will come personally even if they have been notified"

He sighed "Alright"

"Thank you dick"

oOo

Unlike dick, Bruce and Selina had been quite angry with the league being so accepting of artemis they didn't have a problem with her becoming part of the team or her in general but she was a direct blood relative of two well known criminals and dick he was only blood related to one talon and that was a great-great grandfather who they didn't even know how he was alive.

Green Arrow had been put on the spot when he offered to be her mentor, he didn't trust black bat at all but he defended himself with the same thing dick had said saying she hadn't committed any crimes and it wasn't like she could choose who her parents were.

So when Batman returned to the Batcave after Batwoman and Black Bat's patrol they weren't really surprised when he told them artemis had agreed.

"She's going to be at the mountain tomorrow so you will be there to introduce yourself too" Batman told Black Bat

"Sure"

oOo

"The Wall-Man is here" Wally had emerged from the zeta-tubes interrupting the conversation introducing artemis to her new teammates and the cave, he was dressed in a yellow and red swim suit carrying a cooler, beach ball, a blue and white beach umbrella, a boom box radio and sunglasses

"Now let's get this party star—" he ended up tripping over his umbrella falling to the ground while the beach ball bounced away past Batman and Red Tornado "-ted"

"Wall-Man huh?" artemis asked sarcastically "Ah I love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?"

"Uh, who is this?" he asked once he stood up

"Artemis, your new teammate" Artemis answered

"Kid flash, never heard of you" wally retorted glancing to his other teammates

"Uh, she's my new protégé" Green arrow came up and put a hand on her shoulder

"What happened to your old one?" Wally asked

_REDCOGNIZED: SPEEDY B-07_

"Well for starters he doesn't go by speedy anymore, call me Red Arrow" Roy declared, he was dressed in a brand new uniform making him look more menacing

"Roy…you look"

"Replaceable" he interrupted what Oliver was going to say

"It's not like that you told me you were going solo"

"So why waste time finding a sub?" roy looked to the girl "Can she even use that bow?"

"Yes, she can" artemis walked up getting in his face

"Who are you?!" wally yelled

"I'm his niece" "She's my niece" Green arrow and Artemis stated at the same time

"She is not your replacement though" aqualad came up to Roy "We have always wanted you on the team and we have no quota on archers"

"And if we did you'd know who'd we pick"

"Whatever Baywatch I'm here to stay"

"You came to us for a reason"

"Yeah" Roy walked up to the holographic computer "a reason named Dr. serling roquetta" pulling up her profile on the screen

"Nano robotics genius electronic expert at royal university in star city, disappeared two weeks ago" Black Bat stated

"Abducted two weeks ago, by the league of shadows" Red Arrow corrected

"You want us to rescue her from the shadows, Hardcore!" wally cheered

"I already rescued her, only one problem: the shadows had already forced her into creating a weapon. Doc calls it the fog, comprised of millions microscopic robots. Nano tech infiltrators capable of disintegrating anything in their path, concrete, steel, flesh, bone, but its true purpose isn't mere destruction; it's theft. The infiltrators even store raw data from any computer system and deliver the stolen data to the shadows providing them access to weapons, strategic defense, cutting edge science and tech."

"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking" artemis listed "Yeah sounds like the shadows" dick had to agree with her on that they had always been a rival with the court and he had to learn everything about them if he ever came in contact with any of them

"Like you know anything about the shadows" wally scoffed but she just smirked at him "Who are you!"

"Roquette is working on a virus to render the fog inert" roy interrupted "She's become a target because the shadows have learned of this" he pulled up another image on the screen "Right now she's off grid, I stashed her at a local high school's computer lab"

"You left her alone?" green arrow yelled

"She's safe enough for now" Red Arrow snapped at his former mentor

"Then lets you and I keep her that way"

"You and I?" Roy repeated "Don't you want to take your new protégé?"

Batman placed a hand on green arrows shoulder to keep him from confronting roy any further "You brought this to the team, it's their mission which means it's hers now too"

"Then my Job's done" Red arrow scoffed walking back to the zeta tubes

_RECOGNIZED: SPEEDY…_

"That's Red Arrow B-07 update"

oOo

Miss Martian and Superboy stood on top of the school keeping an eye on the grounds below for any intruders _"everyone online?"_

"_ugh this is weird" _artemis answered while inspecting her hand

"_And distracting, coding a distributed virus on a kiddy computer with less Ram then a wristwatch is hard enough. Now I have to hear team-think in my skull!" _Dr. Roquette gripped her head

"_Lady do you always complain when people try to help you?" _Kid flash asked while eating a granola bar

"_Pot, kettle have you met?" _artemis asked

"_Hey, hey I do not need attitude adjustment from the newbie who drove Red Arrow off the team"_

"_That is so not on me!" _

"_Fate of the world at stack!" _

"_She started it!"_

Black bat had finally lost what little pieces of patience he had with their bickering he had _"Would you two shut up! We have a mission to complete!" _he gritted his teeth then stalked off back to his position

The others were quite surprised by his outburst. Artemis had heard about Black Bat's more aggressive days since he had broken her dad's neck making him be out of commission for a few weeks and to be honest she was a little afraid of him thinking he might do the same again if ever angered enough

She sighed hopping off the counter she was sitting on _How about I just help Miss Martian and Superboy patrol he perimeter" _Walking out of the room

"_Good idea" _Aqualad agreed and once she was out of range he turned to kid flash glaring "_You should be more welcoming to her she did save you from amazo"_

"_What no that was speedy I mean Red Arrow's arrow right?"_

"_No"_

"_Well still not giving her the satisfaction"_

"_You know I can still hear you!" _artemis glared as she was walking down a hall

"Argh!" wally groaned while gripping his head

Dick on the other hand was trying to dig his finger nails into his head from their antics and trying his best not to burst out again.

"_I couldn't get the justice league" _roquetta complained

"_The virus won't be much use if we cannot find the weapon. Can you track it?" _Aqualad asked

"_My utility fog is not a weapon, it's science brilliant science, and of course I can track it but I'll have to go online. Might as well rent a billboard with this address and assassinate me written in neon"_

"_We will protect you" _Aqualad laid a comforting hand on her shoulder

"_Tracking the fog now"_

Dick laid his head against the pillar he was leaning on as he tried to find some piece of mine now that it was finally quiet clearing his mind _"Mmm that boy" _he heard artemis state interrupting him

"_He can hear you! We can all hear you!" _Miss Martian protested

"_oh I know"_

Black bat growled driving his fist into the pillar 'yes this is just what we need two hormonal girls fighting over one kryptonian'

Aqualad saw how aggravated black bat was getting by all the arguing _"Miss Martian, Dr. Roquette has located the fog. Reconfigure the bioship so that Superboy and Black Bat can pursue" _

"_Thank you" _Black bat stated as he walked out the door of the computer lab and ran outside followed by superboy into the bioship and sitting down at the driver's seat taking off

oOo

The mind-link with their other teammates grew fainter and fainter as they flew off toward the current location of the fog. Dick was happy he was partnered with Superboy this time because he didn't talk at all so he was finally able to have peace and quite

He sat back in his chair as he continued flying the Bio-Ship toward Philadelphia

"You never answered wally's question"

The quite was interrupted once superboy began talking "What?"

"During our report for the last mission wally asked about ivo's statement to you while we were fighting amazo"

"It's none of your concern"

"The team has grown concern from what you said during our first mission that the league dint trust you and now with that 'Don't you miss the thrill of the hunt' statement from Ivo we starting to get suspicious on what you did"

"If the team does not trust me either than I'm fine with being fired"

"It's not like that we just don't understand how the league can't trust the son of two of their members"

Dick sighed he wished he really was their son he hated his birth parents to death but there was nothing he could so about that "It's between me and the league I do not know how much longer I have to work to get their trust but it my problem don't worry"

Superboy finally dropped the topic and after a few more minutes of flying they had arrived at star labs in Philadelphia but as soon as they came into view they were both shocked to see it was crumbling from the effects of the fog

Dick contacted Aqualad "Black Bat to Aqualad, we've arrived at Philadelphia, the target of the fog was a star labs facility, we arrived too late, it has been decimated. What is our next move?"

"_Rescann the fog. Find it, we're moving the doctor"_

_ oOo_

"The next target is a Wayne tech facility" Black bat's eyes widened he could not have their information fall into the hands of the shadows "Infuriate systems software could be used to hack the—"

"The what?" superboy asked

"Doesn't matter, What matters is that Wayne tech operates a 24 hour work force we'll never evacuate the building in time" he sped up the bio-ship making it hover faster toward the parking lot

Black bat finally received the virus on his holographic glove computer "It's downloading"

Superboy looked out the hatch to see they were preparing to unleash the fog "Don't need it!" he jumped out of the hatch

"Superboy!" dick yelled looking as superboy was shot away by a red laser and landing a few feet away on the parking lot. The fog was unleashed

"No!" Black bat shot off a grappling hook and landed at the front doors running as fats as he could after the fog. He ran past a security guard at a desk "Hey you can't come in here!...unauthorized entry!" he called into a radio

Dick ran faster and was able to slide under the grate just before it closed he followed the fog into one of the cafeteria's and saw a woman standing by a computer. He ran over and plugged his USB cord into it

"What's going on?" what are you doing?" the woman asked

Dick didn't have time to answer her as he quickly typed in the computer's connection to the mainframe and activated the virus sending it into the Wayne Tech systems. It seemed like forever for the virus to work seeing the ceiling above him was crumbling

_Access granted_

He inwardly cheered seeing the dark clouds of the fog beginning to turn red before dropping out of the air, he finally sighed in relief unplugging the usb from the computer. He suddenly remembered Superboy so he quickly ran to a window and looked out to the parking lot

Superboy was able to force his way through the red laser and knock the shadow out

"Mission accomplished"

**BONUS**

Unfortunately a few weeks later a new problem emerged in Gotham city for the bats to handle. They had been patrolling when they came across an old woman laughing wildly as she ran out with bags of money from the bank

They blocked her off and batman tied her to a light pole making her drop the bags as she continued laughing wildly

"Tortured laugher, uncontrollable laughing" Batman summed up

"Joker" Black Bat suggested

"Hardly seems like a simple bank robbery is worth his time" Batwoman thought until they heard an alarm set off in a nearby store

A man ran out of a computer store holding an Apple laptop while laughing they were about to go after him but then heard another alarm set off and turned to see another man run off with a flat screen Tv and one after another alarms set off as people ran off with all sorts of merchandise

"Who said it was simple?" Batman asked

They were able to catch all the people but not all of them so they returned to the batcave to see what could be causing this

"Joker broke out of arkham a days ago but usually he handles crimes himself" Selina summed up

"He must have infected these people the question is how?" dick asked

Bruce was looking up files to see what ways joker had used in the past to infect people

"Master Richard your friends from Gotham Acadamy called they want to know if you would like to spend the day with them around the city"

"Go Dick we can handle this" Selina assured him

"Alright I haven't seen them in a while anyway" he shrugged

oOo

Once dick got back from going out with his Barbra, Kevin, and Julie he went down to the batcave to see how they were doing on finding joker

"We haven't found anything yet but we called the team for stand by just in case another one of these stealing sprees burst out" Selina told him

And right on cue the bat computer started setting off an alert from the police station

"Might want to tell them to come help" Dick said and ran to put on his black bat suit

oOo

The team had been really helpful in catching the giggle bandits and after they were done batman had asked them to stay in Gotham until they figured this out each team member was paired with another and told to patrol a part of Gotham while they talked to Commissioner Gordon

Miss Martian was paired with Aqualad

Kid flash was paired with Superboy

And Artemis was paired with Black Bat

"We did what we could but the outbreak was too scattered to random to contain" Batwoman and Batman were looking out to the city on the roof of the police station with Gordon

"Tell me about it I had my people all over gotham trying to chase down these giggle bandits, fortunate the change was only temporary the victims have no idea what came over them or why"

"Clearly joker infected this people to do his criminal work but how?" batman asked

"That's the million dollar question none of his victims seem to have anything in common"

oOo

Black bat and Artemis were walking over a roof top during their patrol

"What kind of person let's themselves go a giggly for that insane maniac" Artemis wondered

"They had no control over their actions… joker infected them somehow"

"How then?"

"We don't know perhaps a gas..or powder.." he gasped for second " or something"

"You said the toxicology test had no trace of anything in the victims"

Since black bat was ahead of her she didn't see him begin to smile and then began laughing a bit "Hey I'm being serious here!" he tried talking during his laughing

"I-I can't …..stop…" he finally burst out laughing and turned around showing artemis to big grin on his face

"Oh no…" she moaned

oOo

Batman was watching while batwoman and Gordon were talking when all of a sudden they heard glass breaking then an alarm buzz from just around the corner so they ran to the other edge of the roof

The bats activated their magnifying lenses to look down "The jewelry store" bruce saw dick run out then look both ways before running down to his right sidewalk followed by artemis

"But who are they chasing?" Selina asked

oOo

Black Bat continued laughing as he ran down the sidewalk; he had gotten about 5 gold chains around his neck and three silver bracelets on his glove wrists

Artemis was trying to keep up with his fast running, she had already contacted the team and they were on their way so then contacted the bats "Batman we have a situation…." She was interrupted when he suddenly turned around and punched her in the jaw then wrapped her in a two lassos for her arms and legs "Hey!"

He just laughed at her then turned and ran down an alley between two buildings but kid flash finally arrived with his running and saw what he did to artemis so ran after him in the alley "Oh no you don't!" he tackled him to the ground but black bat moved making him lose his grip and tried punching him

"Hey!" wally was able to dodge it and grabbed black bat's wrist then pushed him against a brick wall holing him by the shoulder and the wrist. Black bat didn't seem hurt because he just continued to laugh "Come on Bats snap out of it!" Dick brought his legs closer to the wall and ran up it flipping over behind kid and then punched him to the ground and sent a sticky pellet at him making him stick to the ground

"Oh dude! So not cool!" he yelled

Dick continued to giggle as he ran down the alley but he saw superboy land just before the exit and ran at him trying to punch him but he slid under his arm then kicked superboy in the back knocking him to the ground before he ran out of the alley going right

"What happened?" Aqualad asked as he and Miss Martian arrived

"Black bat happened he went all giggly and attacked us!" Artemis cried while Miss Martian helped her up

"He is so washing this!" Wally yelled while struggling to get out of the sticky goo

Aqualad nodded and ran over to superboy "You and Miss Martian help Artemis and kid get free I'll go after black bat"

oOo

Aqualad was able to catch up with black bat while he was running down a side walk by a bridge that went over the ocean.

Black bat turned to see him running after him as he turned to go on to sidewalk for the bridge, because of the turn aqualad was able to finally get on his tail and jumped after black bat. Dick's smiled dropped when he saw kaldur jump then land on him but he quickly kicked him off toward the ocean making him fall in

Black Bat laughed again walking to the edge of the bridge pulling out three of his disks aiming them where aqualad landed "Black Bat!" he heard and turned to see Batman and Batwoman coming up to him. He laughed a bit before throwing his disks at them

They both jumped out of the line of fire and saw dick was trying to run again but Selina grabbed him by the wrists and put him in handcuffs then turned him to bruce. Batman got out a pellet shaped can and sprayed it in black bat's face while he was still laughing

Dick's laugher finally started quieting down as his head slumped and batwoman got the key out for the handcuffs, the team ran up to team from behind, aqualad raised himself out of the water and kid flash still had pieces of the goo all over his uniform but the others seemed ok

"Is it safe?" wally asked

Black bat groaned putting a hand to his head

"A brief time-out should reset his personality" batman told them

"Like that's any better" Artemis muttered

Black Bat looked up while rubbing his head "Batwoman?"

"How do you feel?" Selina asked

"Confused, what happened?"

"Someone got a case of the giggles" Wally crossed his arms but ended up making his arms stick to his chest "Aw man!"

Dick lifted an eyebrow and turned to his parents, they nodded confirming his suspicious making him groan "How could I have been infected?" he looked to the jewelry he had on

"Maybe you're not as good as you think you are" Artemis stated making him glare

"Just like the other victims he didn't have any control over his actions" Aqualad defended him

"Yeah but the other victims aren't trained to fight"

Batman turned to black bat while he was taking off the bracelets "Do you know where you were taking the stolen jewels?"

He frowned and tried to remember but he had blacked out he turned around since that was the direction he was heading in and saw something suspicious "No but I have a theory"

oOo

Over on another bridge more of joker's victims were throwing merchandise onto a boat below "Looks like to fish are biting tonight" Harley smiled over to two of her henchman and they nodded

Harley turned back to the merchandise but then saw the heroes come up to the bridge sidewalk making her frown "Stopped by to see us off? How thoughtful!" she ran into the control room "Punch it!" and a screen pulled over the merchandise and revealed the boat was a submarine when it dived into the water

"Great" Artemis moaned

"Now what?" Miss Martian asked

"We figure out how he got to black bat" Batwoman turned to her son

"And we do that how?" wally asked

"He's going to have to retrace his steps on everything he did today tomorrow and search for anything suspicious"

Black bat inwardly groaned he was going to have to deal with Barbra and Julie's shopping again they had gone to the mall and even thought he and Kevin got to do guy stuff they had to carry their bags around too

"You know this was actually the first time I saw you smile and even better laugh" Wally smirked at him making him growl then stalk off "Where you going?"

"Return these" he showed them a bag he had put all the jewelry in

oOo

Dick ended a phone call to Barbra asking if they wanted to hang out again today she had found it weird that he wanted to redo everything but was happy that she could go shopping since dick had paid for everything

He groaned when she said to bring his debit card "Ok it's set up"

"Good and I'm sure you live" Selina said sarcastically

"You're going to have to wear this" Bruce attached a weird looking arm band to his upper arm

"What is that?" he lifted an eyebrow

"It's used to detect anytime your normal body function is infected so we can detect when you are infected"

He nodded

"Master Richard your friends are here" Alfred called

"Well I'll be going" he waved to his parent before going into a car outside where Kevin, Julie and Barbra were waiting

"Dude have you gone insane this past day?" Kevin asked

"I just want to hang out with my buddies is that so bad?" he smiled

"I think it's a great idea" Julie smiled

"You would" Kevin groaned

The driver drove them all the way to the mall again and for a while they did everything they had the day before after looking through sports stores and the electronic stores the girls finally went on their shopping sprees

Right now dick and Kevin where sitting on a bench outside a fitting room the girls had gone in to try on some clothes, dick was looking around the department store for anything out of the ordinary that could be connected to joker but found nothing

He got a call from Selina on his cell phone "I gotta take this" he told Kevin then walked a few feet away "Yes" answering his phone

"_Got anything yet?"_

"No but this is pure torture" he groaned

Selina laughed a bit _"Well do you have a better idea?"_

"No but that doesn't make following the shopping queens around any better"

"_Joker did something to you and maybe even the others sometime during your day we have to find out how"_

"Yeah but I just spent the last two hours watching them shop for handbags"

"Hey dick they're done!" Kevin called to him

"Not quite we need new shoes to go with our outfits" Julie corrected

"_Good luck with that dick" _Selina had heard that and hung up

After a bit more shopping dick paid for all the stuff they bought and finally exited the mall with them heading over to the underground subway "Finally free!" Kevin cheered

"Sissy" Julie smirked

Dick smiled at their antics while they all waited for the train, and when it arrived they all sat down on four chairs facing each other. Like everywhere else they had gone while the others were talking he looked around the train for anything and while doing so looked at the other people

While looking at the people a man caught his eye he tried being friendly by smiling but he gritted at him, before he could do anything else the lights to the subway started flickering making the pupils in everyone's eyes get smaller as they stared at the lights

oOo

"Dick isn't home yet?" Bruce asked once he arrived

"No I've tried calling him but he's not answering" Selina was biting her nails "What if something bad happened to him joker's affect doesn't happen right away"

"We just have to track him the arm band has a tracker in it too"

"I do not think the tracker will be necessary sir" Alfred called over to them and turned up the sound on the tv making them look to it

Their eyes widened at the sight _"If this particular giggle bandit looks familiar you're right…it's none other than Richard Wayne the son of the wealthiest family in Gotham….he along with other children of well known families were caught robbing the local museum proving that even Gotham's elite can fall prey to jokers antics"_

Bruce and Selina saw dick was laughing on the screen while carrying a small statue before the camera switched over to the reporter

"_The children are being taken to the local police station for their parents to pick them up and it seems the effects joker are wearing off"_

"We need to go pick him up and see what happened" Selina told Bruce and he nodded

oOo

"I have to say Richard was the most hard to catch at the museum he caused some injured to some of our officers" Gordon told the couple once they arrived

"It wasn't his fault joker infected him just like your daughter" Selina argued

"Yes I know I just think it's weird that he can fight so well"

"Dick takes self defense classes so that he can protect himself" Bruce explained

"That makes sense"

Dick was brought out from the back of the station and given to his parent before they left back to the limo

"What happened dick you said nothing weird had happened when I called" Selina asked

"Nothing out of the ordinary I looked around but….nothing"

"Something had to happen" bruce looked to the arm band and took it off his arm "Well have to check the data on this to find out"

Once they arrived back at the cave Bruce began checking over the data on the band and found that around 3:36 pm there was a decrease in brain activity for about two minutes

"What were you doing around this time?"

Dick tried to remember what he was doing he remembered they had left the mall around 3:20 and had gotten on the train at 3:30 "The train!" he eyes widened

"Train?" Selina asked

"I blacked out for a moment while we were on the train I didn't think anything of it but that must have been when I was infected"

"How would joker infect people with a train?" bruce asked

He remembered he had been smiling at the old man just before he blacked out until he heard the lights flickering above them "The lights"

oOo

Back on the train people were seated as they waited for the next stop like any other day until the lights began flickering again "Life getting you down?" joker called over the speakers "Feel like you're just along for the ride…..then relax..clear your minds and look into the light…the peaceful lights….the soothing lights"

Batman attached a small EMP to the train making the lights shut off and the entire train stop in its tracks, the emergency lights outside the train turned on for the people inside to see that the Bat Family of Gotham had arrived

"Make sure everyone stays out of the first car" Batwoman told Black bat while she and bruce went to the first car. There was one man seated in the front car but quickly ran out when he saw the bats approaching

"Blast public transportation!" Joker groaned

"It's not just the lights pudding it's the entire train" Harley told him

"I realize that!"

The door to the control room opened behind them revealing the bats "Your scream has just been derailed" batman punched joker in the face while batwoman grabbed Harley and threw her on the floor of the first car

"Excuse me I'm the conductor here and all passengers must get their tickets punched" joker tried to attack batman but knocked out once batman and batwoman put on their gas masks and let out sleeping gas in the first car to knock out Harley, the henchman and joker

_To be continued_

**I saw that dick had a really small part in infiltrator so decided to transfer an episode from The Batman to young justice I've been wanting to do this episode anyway and I liked how Black bat evaded his teammates while he was trying to steal the jewels**

**Never know how to end a chapter :/**


	22. Downtime

Downtime

Batman had sent the team to go after clayface while he and black bat went back to the batcave to examine a piece of clayface that they had gotten and find a way to defeat him

Bruce contacted aqualad "Batman to team report status, have you encountered clayface?"

"_Yes batman though the encounter was far from successful "_

"Tell me everything that occurred in detail"

"_Hey if that's batman ask him where Black Bat is? And how come he gets away with skipping this so-fun sewer party" _He heard Kid flash comment

Dick rolled his eyes at the comment he was actually grateful he wasn't there that way he wouldn't have to spend hours in the shower trying to wash off the smell of sewer water

"Do you actually have a plan Miss Selina?" Alfred asked her while she was examining the piece of clay under a microscope

Selina was sparking the clay with a small taser to see if that could get it to stop moving "If we can find the correct frequency, I can disrupt the morphic resonance pattern with a taser redenering it inert. We have to imply some sort of morhpic field"

"Are you resigning to leaving the dirty work to the team?" Alfred asked

"Aqualad knows not to let his operatives engage" Bruce assured him

"Yes but what about the team do they know not to engage?" Dick asked

oOo

The team had followed clayface into a warehouse in the narrows and decided to split up to search for it in the large building. Superboy was walking down a section between a couple of crates when he saw M'gann standing completely still at the end

"Miss Martian?" he went up to her and grabbed her shoulder " M'gann what's wrong?" her shoulder melted into clay on his hand then she morphed into clayface. Clayface grabbed superboy and pulled him into the clay of his body and sent him back out unconscious

Clayface then morphed into superboy and took the com from his ear "Guys I found clayface! Rendezvous at my coordinates "

Miss Martian was the first to arrive and clayface had already hidden the real superboy "Over here!" he called to her "Bad news gorgeous, he caught me off guard and got away"

M'gann blushed "You…you think I'm gorgeous?"

"Well sure…" clayface morphed his upper self into a ram and hit her "Who wouldn't?!"

/Kid flash/

Clayface had morphed into Miss Martian and had been able to distract Wally by trying to flirt with him, it had worked since he fell for it and was able to catch him off guard

/Artemis/

"Oh great like one of you wasn't bad enough" Aretmis groaned when the parts off clayface around her morphed into kid flash

The two kid flash's smirked then turned their arms into large hammers and rammed them into her knocking her unconscious

/Aqualad/

Clayface morphed into Artemis when he caught sight of aqualad

"Any sign of clayface?" he asked

"'Clayface?' no, not here"

Aqualad turned away from her "Any word from the rest of the team?"

She smirked as she turned her arm into a Bat "No sorry" she then rammed the bat into his head knocking him to the ground. He wanted knocked unconscious and went at clayface but was sent into a brick wall by a third arm in its chest

Clayface revealed that the others had been knocked unconscious when he brought the clay covering them back to his body to show aqualad he was defeated. Before clayface could attack aqualad again Black bat burst through the windows of the ceiling sending two of his disks at his arm

When Clayface tried to punch him he flipped out of the way and then got out a laser gun batman had told him to use and electrocuted clayface reducing him to a puddle, next thing aqualad saw was Batwoman come through the broken window and land next to her son

"You could have waited for me"

He shrugged "There wasn't time"

Batwoman nodded then walked over to the puddle and jammed a syringe into it turning the clay into rock before it turned into sand

Kaldur's eyes widened thinking she had just killed the creature, she smiled at him "He'll be fine just add water" assuring him

"Batman sent you?" He asked feeling defeated while Selina helped him to his feet

"Yes, he is waited for you at the mountain"

oOo

"I need to talk to aqualad the rest of you, hit the showers and head home" Batman told the team once they arrived through the zeta-tubes

"Head home? I am home" superboy said sarcastically while he walked past him

"I am sorry Batwoman and Black Bat had to intervene…..I know the team performed poorly.."

"The team performed adequately, the problem was you, you're their leader and your head wasn't in the game"

"No, you are.." aqualad sighed "Correct, of late I am not even convinced I belong on the surface world…for so many years it filled my every thought. But now that I am here my dreams are all Atlantis"

"Atlantis or someone you left behind? You can split your time between eh surface world and here—but now your mind. Either you're here one hundred percent or you need to walk away" he turned away from kaldur "Make a decision kadlur and make it soon" he walked away leaving him alone to think

oOo

Later that night in the gym of Wayne Manor dick was training by himself, he was flipping on rings before back flipping off onto a platform but his footing wasn't right and ended up falling off; he caught himself with a quick hand spring but ended up thudding into the wall

He spun around and rammed his fist into the wall making a decent crater in its cement, he didn't seem very fazed by the damage he had just done and stalked off to take a break on a bench

What he didn't know was the rest of his family was watching him through the bat computer

Bruce's eyes narrowed "He seems angry about something"

"Well of course he's angry" Selina crossed her arms and he turned to her lifting an eyebrow "He's feeling neglected by you"

"What?"

"Between Wayne enterprises, Patrol and now the team you barely ever spend time with him anymore, I try to fill in but I can't take both the mother and father position"

Bruce thought about it and he realized during the entire week he only ever actually spent time with dick was during dinner or patrol, he sighed "You're right"

"Of course I am but don't feel bad you can't help your schedule"

/dick/

Dick had a towel around his neck to wipe off some sweat as he sat down on the bench and took a sip of water out of his bottle. The door to the gym opened and Alfred cleared his throat to get his attention "Master Bruce wishes to see you"

Alfred took him to the backyard door and let him walk out, a basketball came bouncing over to him and he caught it in his hands "What's this?"

"Training hand eye coordination" Bruce put his fists on his hips

Dick smiled "One on one?"

"If you think you can handle it"

Dick laughed and ran past bruce to the basket

Alfred smiled at the sight and Selina came out to watch the father and son play together

oOo

During dinner Bruce and Selina decided to confess what they had done for Artemis to dick

"It not like we don't have the money to send her to Gotham Academy too" Selina shrugged

"True"

"Even if you run into each other I doubt she'll recognize you anyway to the world Black Bat and Richard Wayne are two completely different people"

"Maybe they could become friends there too, Artemis will be a new student and dick can get her into his group of friends like Barbra, Bette, Kevin, Julie, and Lewis"

"I doubt she'll want to hang out with us, to her were a bunch of spoiled rich brats I think she'll want to make friends with the people who are more in her category of students"

"Well you never know"

**Bonus**

Dick was at the mountain in his Black Bat personal to finally get to fix the Meca-batsuit the team had been sent on a mission for zatara so while he was walking back to the mechanics room from getting a drink he didn't expect the team to walk in

He saw Aqualad and Superboy were carrying a metal container with a few holes in it

"Hey Bats what you doing here?" Wally rushed up to him

"I have to fix the meca-batsuit"

"Oh well our mission was cool we had to catch this creature called a verci that has the power to shapeshift into anything it wants people, animals, even furniture it's in that cage" he pointed to the cage as Aqualad and Superboy set it down

"You'll never believe what it turned into" Artemis lifted a side of the cage to reveal it had maxi-glass under to show a normal looking baby sitting inside

His eyebrows furrowed at the sight why would this all powerful creature turn into a baby "What are you ordered to do with this….verci?"

"We are to keep it in one of the cells until Zatara arrives to send it away" aqualad told him

He nodded seeing the verci was now sucking its thumb

"It's a pretty good actor and it's so cute" Miss Martian smiled at it

Black bat's portable bat-wave began ringing then let out a small zap at him making him clench his teeth as he took it out to see it was frizzing up again

"Whoa what's wrong with that? Wally asked

"It was damaged in a fight at Gotham I have not gotten he chance to fix it yet"

"Might want to get to that then" Artemis told while he walked back to the mechanics room and she runned her left shoulder gritting

"What's wrong?" Miss martian asked

"The verci got in a good hit I'm just sore though don't worry"

"Superboy why don't you take the Verci to one of the cells while I contact batman" Aqualad asked

"Sure" Superboy lifted the crate and put it on his shoulder then walked away

/Later/

"Ok he's locked up" Superboy came back to the mission room to tell aqualad

"Good" all of a sudden a loud alarm set off in the cave and red lights started blinking

"What's happening?!" Artemis asked once she, Wally, and M'gann ran back in from their separate locations in the mountain

"I don't know" Aqualad tried to find out through the computer and looked on a map of the cave that had red lights blinking in the cells area but it was then interrupted by batman appearing on the screen

"_I received an alert from the watchtower what's the problem?" _

"I saw that there had been damage done to the cells where the verci is being kept" Kaldur told him

"_Where is Black Bat?"_

"Here" they heard and turned around to see him walk in rubbing his ears from the loud alarm a few minutes ago

"_Put the cave under lock down we cannot let the verci escape from the cave"_

"Right" Aqualad nodded and set the cave on lock down shutting down all the zeta-tubes, the windows completely sealed, and the vents shut off from the outside

"_Go and check the cell of the verci and see if you can find it" _

They all nodded and ran to the cell but the door had been completely blown off, aqualad had contacted batman through the com link and told him so batman ordered them to search the rest of the cave

Eventually they made it the hanger and their eyes widened at the sight; there was a orange and blue cocoon sticking to a part of the hanger and it moved like a humans heart

Aqualad put up to holographic computer in the hanger contacting batman "Batman it appeared that the verci is in some kind of…cocoon"

Batman's eyes narrowed at the sight of the cocoon "_It's worse than that the verci has the power to shape shift into anything it wants and pose as the person to fool others_"

"Wait, what does that mean?" Wally asked lifting an eyebrow

"_One of you is in that cocoon; one of you is the verci_"

All their eyes widened and looked to each other then began to step away from each other

"Batman I don't understand how could one of us be the verci?" Miss Martian asked

"_The verci is able to shape shift to look exactly like the person they choose"_

"How could one of us be the verci we've all been here together this entire time" superboy asked

"_Has anyone been alone in the cave?"_

They all turned to each other, black bat had been in the mechanics room, artemis had been in her room, wally had been in the kitchen and miss martian had been somewhere else while aqualad had been in the mission room and superboy had went to the cells

"We've all been alone at one point"

"_Then at one point the verci overpowered one of you trapping you in that cocoon then taking your shape and memory; in time that cocoon will completely consume whoever is inside" _

"Then lets just rip It open and see who's inside" artemis pulled out a saw like arrow and aimed it at the cocoon

"_Artemis stop! Tampering with the cocoon can be fatal to whoever's inside"_

"Well how else are we supposed to find out who's inside?" she yelled

"_You will have to figure that out on your own I need to contact zatara to get information out of him about the verci_" the screen turned off leaving them alone to interrogate each other

"So mystery never thought I'd be in this situation" wally looked around to the others while they were all in their fighting positions, aqualad got out his water controllers ( **Don't know that they're called), **Artemis had an arrow prepared and black bat had out a few of his disks

"Can't we just scan the cocoon and find out who's inside?" Miss martian didn't want to unintentionally hurt one of her teammates

"Didn't you hear batman tampering with the cocoon can be fatal to whoever's inside" Black bat told her

"Ok I have a way to find out who's really who interrogation questions" Wally smiled and turned to aqualad "What is your real name?"

"Kaldur'ahm" he lifted an eyebrow

"Ok now everyone say their real names so we know who's who"

"M'gann mo'razz"

"Artemis crock"

"Conner kent"

They all turned to black bat when he didn't answer "I can't give away my identity"

"The verci would have chosen you then why not pick the one no one knows huh?" artemis pointed her arrow at him

His eyes narrowed when everyone turned to him in their fighting postions "That is a wrong reason why not superboy he was the one who took the verci to the cell it could have overpowered him and took his shape before any of this started"

They saw that was a good assumption too and turned to superboy next

"I locked the verci in the cell without any trouble"

"Yeah but there's no way to know for sure" wally narrowed his eyes at him

"Wouldn't that cocoon be bigger if I was in there?" superboy pointed to the small cocoon

"That is a good point" aqualad looked over the cocoon to take in how big it was

"The person inside might be in a fetal position which is why it's so small" Miss martian reasoned with everyone

"Right any of us could fit in there if where crouched" Wally brought back up

Suddenly holographic computer came back up and they saw zatara had joined batman at the watchtower

"_Put your weapons down!" _Batman growled so aqualad put his back on his back, artemis but her arrow back in the quiver and black bat put the disks back in his belt

"_I am able to narrow down the possibilities of who the verci could be; the verci is not able to mimic a person's power" _Zatara told them then shut the computer off to continue their interrogations

They all turned to each other; superboy had super strength, miss martian was well a martian, aqualad was an atlantian, and wally had super speed so that only left artemis or black bat

"Oh come on so it's obviously you!" artemis pointed her arrow at black bat and fired but he was able to dodge it before it hit

"Hey that's not fair how do we know it's not you!" wally walked up to defend black bat

"It couldn't be me I already told you my secret ID how could the verci know that" artemis asked and they saw her point of view so turned back to black bat who narrowed his eyes

"Batman said the verci is capable of taking a person's memory so it would obviously know your real name"

"That is true" wally turned back to artemis

"Were never going to find out which one of us is the verci" she groaned

"Wait wasn't black bat late to get to the mission room than anybody else?" superboy brought up

"The mechanics room is sound proof I wasn't aware of the alarm until I turned and saw the light flashing outside"

"Where were you then artemis?" aqualad asked

"I was in my room reading one of my books for homework"

"Ok how about we test your abilities, artemis is able to hit the target with her arrows any time she fires her arrows so …do it" Miss Martian told her

"Easy enough…where do you want me to fire?" she smirked and got out one of her arrows

They looked around for a hard target then looked down to the small training area below them "Hit the punching bag….way over there…" wally pointed to the other side of the room

"Fine" she aimed her arrow on her bow for a few seconds before firing; they saw the arrow shoot ff then land on the punching bag tearing it letting the sand drop out "Might need to get a new one"

"Ok your turn" superboy turned to black bat

"I have a better way of testing him" wally walked up and examined him a bit walking around him

"What are you doing?" he lfited an eyebrow

"Just making sure you're the right height ok Black bat is an expert acrobat so do his little routine on the jungle gym over there" wally smirked and pointed to the large set below them

He saw everyone turn to him "Fine" he jumped off the upper half of the hanger and landed on trampoline before flipping off and landing on the mat

"Gonna have to do better than that boy wonder" artemis called

"Yeah and I just remembered something else Black bat is the only person in the entire world who is capable of performing a quadruple summersault on the trapeze that will definably be hard to mimic"

He crouched down to a running position then ran off flipping on some balance beams then flipping back on the mat and doing a few flips over to the pommel horse and jumping over to the parallel bars spinning between them before finally going over to the trapeze and doing a perfect quadruple summersault and landing on the trampoline then flipping back to the mat

He let out a breath then turned back up to the team

"Ooooook this is going to be harder than I thought" Wally groaned

"The verci is really good at mimicking a person's abilities" Miss martians eyes widened

"Ok why don't we think of how the verci could have gotten to me or black bat from the cell which room is closer?" Artemis asked

Aqualad brought up a map of the cave and look to the room areas, mechanic room and the cells "They're the same distance"

"Black bat you said the mechanic room was sound proof so how do we know the verci didn't sneak in behind him then took his shape?"

Black bat tried to come up with an explanation

"Here's what I think happened"

/~~~/

Black bat was in the mechanics room welding a piece of metal back onto the leg of the bat-suit when it suddenly stopped working, he frowned and tried to push the button to turn It on but it wasn't working so he took off his welding mask and went to look where he had plugged it in

"How did this happen?" he lifted an eyebrow when he saw it was unplugged so plugged It back in and went back to work when he saw a shadow move behind him so he turned and saw nothing

When he turned back around his eyes widened and before he was able to do anything he was consumed in an orange and blue goo

/~~/

"You really think I can be that careless?" he crossed his arms

"Well when you're working on mechanics you tend to shut off from the rest of the world you know" wally thought making him groan

"But how would the verci have gotten black bat's belt he was wearing it but you took your quiver off in the living room" Miss martian asked artemis

"I don't know but how do we know he didn't take it off while he was working"

"He does need his gloves on to work and he obviously has them on now"

Artemis yelled in frustration

"The verci could have snuck up on you too in your room since they are sound proof as well, the verci could have captured you there and taken your shape then gone to the living room to get your quiver"

"Wally or Miss martian might have seen and orange and blue goo come by them since they were nearby"

"That is true"

"And there is something off about your speech bats" artemis pointed another arrow at him "your sounding overly dumb all of a sudden"

"I do not necessary have to speak formally all the time"

"But if I were the Verci I would act exactly like the person so they don't get suspicious"

"Yes but I were the verci the first thing I would do I accuse someone else of being the verci which you just did" he aimed his disks at her

"That is true you would want to turn everyone against the real person then escape as the person you morphed into" aqualad turned to artemis

They continued arguing of the possibility of black bat or artemis being the verci while the other kept switching back and forth with who to aim their attacks at

"You know what I've had it!" artemis yelled then got out another arrow and walked over to the cocoon

"What are you doing artemis?" miss martian

"I'm opening this and were going to find out who's inside to get this over with" aimed a razor arrow at the cocoon

"You can't tampering with it can be fatal to whoever's inside" superboy yelled

"They'll die anyway if we can't findout which one of us in the verci" artemis yelled

Black bat came up to her and aimed his disks at her "Drop the arrow artemis"

She glared and aimed the arrow at him "Drop the disks first" the team saw they were about to attack and prepared they attacks at both of them

"Drop both your weapons"

They were at a stand off against each other when Miss martian turned to artmis "How your shoulder?"

She rubbed her right shoulder "Fine"

"It was the other shoulder" wally yelled

"No it wasn't…wait was it?' artemis asked making them all aim at her "Ok guys stop it!"

All of a sudden they heard the sound of the bat wave from inside the cocoon then the sounds of frizzing and short circuiting "Black bat's portable bat wave! I knew it!" artemis aimed her arrow at the verci

The others eyes widened before they got into fighting positions and turned to the verci, it growled at them then spoke in a really deep voice "Open the doors or the boy dies!" they're eyes narrowed at it

The holographic computer lit back up with batman on it and he saw they were aiming at his son "_Didn't I tell you to put your weapons down?"_

"Black bat is the verci!" artemis yelled

The verci spoke "Just let me out and you get your human friend back"

Batman's eyes narrowed when it spoke in that deep voice now seeing that it wasn't his son "_Now listen here verci we don't negotiate with criminals. Free my son and get back to your cell"_

It growled again then set off a few disks making them explode all around the hanger. The holographic screen disappeared but one of the disks set off to the cocoon and cut off the bottom half making the real Black Bat fall out

He was covered in green-yellow watery goo that was still spilling out of the cocoon. the team smiled when they saw he wasn't physically hurt but got worried when he wasn't moving until they heard him groan.

Dick began getting up feeling incredibly weak and got to his feet wiping off some of the goo from his face then spitting out some of it from his mouth 'disgusting' he groaned

"Bats you're alright!" wally ran up and hugged him but ended up getting covered in the goo too "Aw man not again!" he groaned

"Smart wally" Artemis smirked

"What happened?" he asked getting rid of the headache

"The verci took your shape it right there!" aqualad pointed making him turn to the creature that looked exactly like him he was about to get his weapons when he saw his belt was gone and he looked up to see the verci smirking with a few smoke pellets and throwing them down

"Oh great!"

Dick tried to get on the defense but was tackled from the side and got into a scuffle with the verci ending up getting him covering in the goo too so once the smoke cleared the team could no longer tell who was the real black bat

"Not again" superboy groaned

"Alright both of you stop!" aqualad yelled at the two making them stop fighting "Now step apart!"

"Good now do that bit where one of you is the reflection of the other" kid flash asked

"How is that going to help?" artemis asked

"It's not it's just really entertaining" he whispered to her making her slap him in the chest

Both Black Bats glared at each other before one said "hit both of us if you don't your going to let the real verci get away"

Artemis fired at the one that was speaking trapping it in an electric net as it turned into another creature and the belt flew out

"How did you know?" aqualad asked

"His speech is still wrong the real black bat would say that more formally right?" she smirked at him

"Right" he nodded

"Well it's good to have to back buddy but you might want to shower that goo is starting to stink" wally told him

"How did the verci get to you anyway?" Aqualad asked

/flashback/

Black bat was in the mechanics room checking over the circuitry of the meca-batsuit to make sure it wouldn't electrocute him when all of a sudden something wrapped around his waist then his belt was snatched away from him

He turned to see a creature had his belt then threw it to the ground

"Who are you?!" he got into a fighting stance but made sure not to attack

The creature then turned into a puddle and seemed to disappear but he knew better and activated a different setting on his mask and saw a slimy trail leading around the room then turned around too late to see the large wave off goo elope him

/end flashback/

"I did not have time to call for assistance"

"Well it's all over that the good thing"

"Sorry about all the insults I had for you while you were in there" artemis told him

"It's fine" he shrugged and let her walk away until he frowned "Wait what insults?"

_To be continued_

**This is the longest I can remember not updating my fanfictions well I was busy I had to start applying for college and for my computer graphics class I had to do an original drawing to make a magazine cover and I wanted it to look really professional so it took a long time to draw it just right then color it. The drawing is in half to represent this fanfiction the top half has the wayne family as a family portrait then on the botton is the bat family in a scary portrait and it was worth the time it took to make it**

**Completely embarrassed myself on the presentation too got all red, my legs were shaking, and stuttering and ended up getting a bad grade for the presentation wish I could switch out of that class **

**I did another bonus chapter on this because dick had a small part in downtime too and I got this idea from an old show called The Troop I was thinking of having the verci be artemis but I already had a shape shifter turn into a girl with clayface so I wanted the next one to turn into a boy**


	23. Bereft

Bereft

The first thing dick was aware of when he woke up was that it was blazing hot making him sweat, and the next thing he noticed was that he was lying on sand. He immediately pulled himself up to correct his suspicions 'yes I am indeed in the desert'

But why was he in the desert in the first place?

He got up to his feet and could already feel that the electrum had been doing its work since his head was pounding and parts of his body ached. He decided to start walking

'Ok what is the last memory I have?' he tried to think and the last thing he could remember was talking to his mom and dad about joining the academic decathlon team with his friend Lewis but that didn't explain what he was doing out here

He came to a rock formation and steadied himself against it while he was walking until he came to the edge of it and saw a cloud of dust and the sound of an engine coming toward him. He quickly used his acrobatic skills to climb up the cliff to hide and watched as a truck with armored men past by him

"Those were bialyan republican army uniforms" he muttered then lifted his holographic glove and pulled up a map "But what are bialyans doing in….bialyia?"

Ok this explained where he was but he still had no idea what he was doing out here, he glanced down at the calendar and nearly swore "September….what happened to March?!"

Something was defiantly wrong he doubted his calendar would be off by six months. And since he couldn't remember anything why hadn't his dad or mom come looking for him is he had been missing for this long

"Better radio batman" he was about to push his com link when he suddenly got a memory

"_Maintain radio silence at all times"_

He lifted an eyebrow, ok so he shouldn't contact his parents but he needed to find out what was going on had they sent him on a secret mission or something. He jumped down from the cliff side and noticed something on a small rock….he grabbed it and saw it was a piece of a black shirt with the superman symbol on it

He really wasn't superman's biggest fan anymore than he had been when he was six, he even tried to convince his parents into sending him away to become a proper citizen again, so he didn't like him either. He let the black and red cloth slip through his hands back to the sand

'The first thing I should do is find some kind of population area' he looked to the direction the soldiers had gone 'I guessing that's not the direction I should go in'

oOo

Wally had been carrying Artemis down a hill of sand when he tripped over a small rock causing them to fall. Two planes flew over them and began shooting at them

"Get down!" Kid flash pushed her to the ground as they flew back over them

Artemis got out an arrow from her quiver and aimed it at one of the planes but she heard a voice in her head _"Don't worry I'm almost there!" _Causing her to lose her focus and miss the plan

"Did you just hear a girl talking in your head?" she asked kid flash

"Girls are always on my mind but they're not usually talking"

Miss Martian came flying over the two planes and made the two planes crash into each other before landing in front of Kid flash and Artemis.

Wally looked her over "Well J'onn the costume looks familiar but I'm not sure the new bode screams manhunter"

"You know my uncle J'onn, Hello Megan of course you do" she motioned to them "Your Kid Flash, wally and your artemis"

"Wait, wait, wait Martian Manhunters your uncle is that how you know my name?" wally asked

"Your name's really wally?" artemis asked him causing him to groan

"It's ok we're teammates, friends I made you cookies"

Artemis put a hand on her hip and turned to kid flash "you know her?"

"N-no I swear beautiful never seen her before in my life….at least not th—"

M'gann sighed "You both lost your memories too" she looked over to see the bialyan soldiers were leaving so was able to explain to them that they were a team

"So we're a team?" Wally asked

"The three of us and Superboy, did you happen to see him anywhere"

"I think we did" artemis remembered the angry boy who had came at of nowhere and tried to hurt them before moving to the soldiers

Wally rubbed his chin "Ferro-boy some teammate he attacked us"

"He didn't know who we were; I don't know who we are. We need our memories back"

Miss martian rubbed her hands together looking away before turning back to them and taking them into her mind full of memories "I brought you into my mind to share what I remembered so far but I need your help together our memories can form a whole if you open your minds to mine"

Artemis backed away and crossed her arms "You wanna pole through our private thoughts?"

"I have no wish to intrude but—"

"My brain's all yours try not to let it's brilliance overwhelm you" Wally walked up to artemis and took her hand

She thought about it for a second then turned to M'gann "Last six months only and only what you need"

Miss martian nodded then grabbed their heads with her energy pulling up their memories

They had a vision of Batman _"The watchtower detected an immense power surge in the bialyan desert. Spectral analysis revealed elements non-torrential in origin find out what happened at that site what landed there. Bialya is a rouge state ruled by queen bee and not a member of the league's UN charter all communication are subject to interception maintain radio silence at all times"_

"_You'll land in Quraq, on bialya's border to clicks from the hot zone"_

"_All clear" they head a boy's voice say through a vision of them landing in bialya while superboy was carrying something out of the bioship. The vision then switched to Artemis and an unfamiliar boy peeking over a cliff_

"_The biayans control sight" _

"_Set up here" another unfamiliar voice said_

"_The system should be ready soon" the same boy that had been with artemis had his back to them typing away on the machine _

"_Jackpot the sights loaded with zeta beam radiation" wally looked over his shoulder on the screen. the boy finally turned giving them a view of his face _

"_Detecting non-torrential traces from the tent"_

"_I'll check it out on camouflage mode"_

"_Good idea go" _

"_Careful" superboy told her_

_The unfamiliar voice finally showed himself "And maintain telepathic contact"_

"_I will aqualad"_

Miss martian gasped realizing she had forgotten two members of the team

"Aqualad and Black Bat!"

"Where are they what happened next?" kid flash asked

"I don't know that's the last thing I, we remember"

Wally realized he was still holding artemis's hand so they quickly let go and turned away from each other "I'm sure Black Bat is fine but we landed over 24 hours ago and that is not good for a guy with gills like aqualad"

"I'll see if I can reach his mind" miss martian got into a meditative stance and concentrated "He close but he's not moving"

"What about black bat?"

She quickly searched for him too and found he was far away from everyone else "He's far from here and moving so we know he's ok"

oOo

So far dick had been walking for what felt like hours. He knew he was far from getting out of the desert but he figured out why batman would want to keep radio silence since bialya was not on the charter of the justice league so now he was just trying to get to a place where he could contact his dad.

He had some idea of why had had such a horrible headache when he woke up. He had read over the bat computer a long time ago that queen bee had a psychic named Simon so he must have encountered him somehow and lost his memories. He knew he couldn't come in contact with Simon again because he was a known enemy of the court and he was sure Simon had known about all the talons including him

Though he shouldn't really worry since he doubted Simon wouldn't have bothered looking into William's mind to know every single talon in existence. Being in the desert during the day was really hard for him because his Black Bat uniform was mostly black and dark red so that meant they were absorbing the heat

He also noticed something else about his wrists and neck where his scars should be, the scars had seemingly disappeared at first until he felt the skin and saw it was fake. So he was wearing fake skin to hide them after he peeled off a side of it to see the ugly scarring

oOo

Miss martian, Kid flash, and artemis found aqualad unconscious behind a rock and he was currently muttering in atlantian

"I can't restore his memories in this condition"

"He needs to be rehydrated call the bio-ship"

"It's out of range but you could get him there fast"

"He's too heavy and I'm too low and fuel right now I couldn't even carry her" wally pointed to their archer

"Why not just levitate him back?" artemis asked

"I can't I have to find superboy, six months ago he didn't exist he has no memories just animal impulse im the only one who can help him"

"And what about Black Bat we still havent found him who knows where he is and aqualad is close to dying here. Superboy can take care of himself"

Miss martian then had a vision of superboy being tortured "No superboy's in pain I have to help him!" she quickly flew away

"Wait at least tell us which way to the bio-ship or black bat!" wally yelled but she was already gone

"Great" artemis groaned

"Well I guess were just gonna have to find him on our own"

"And get lost out here"

"Well you want to wait here until she gets back?"

"Yes I don't want to see black bat anyway not after what he did to my dad"

Wally lifted an eyebrow he had only ever really talked to black bat once before the team and that was only for a few minutes but now he knew the league didn't trust him so maybe this was connected to that "What did he do?"

"He tried to kill him"

His eyes widened but why would he do that he was a hero he wasn't supposed to kill, why would batman or batwoman teach him how to kill "I'm sure he didn't try to kill him"

"Well he was close too if batwoman hadn't stopped him, he almost cracked his neck but just ended up breaking it"

Wally looked unsure of what to think of his old idol now "It was a long time ago I'm sure he didn't mean to do it"

"You can ask him when we find him then"

Wally stopped talking at that point he did trust black bat he had never gave any indication that he would ever hurt any innocent people so he was so confused now to know that artemis's dad had almost been killed by him. Had all the Bats been rouge at one point and that's why black bat knew how to kill or something else

/later/

Miss martian finally returned with Superboy and a large metal ball named sphere

"Did you win?"

"Simon won't be bothering us anytime soon" M'gann looked down to aqualad "How is he?"

"Same"

"We need to take him back to the bio-ship so he can be healed"

"Arent you forgetting someone?" wally narrowed his eyes at her

Miss martian lifted an eyebrow until she realized it "Oh Black bat!

"Yes how could you forget?"

"I'm sorry I was more focus on helping superboy"

"Don't worry just find him"

"Right" Miss Martian got into her meditative stance and searched all through the desert looking for her last teammate to find he was miles away and he seemed extremely exhausted

"We will reach him faster by bio-ship"

"Then let's go"

oOo

He was never going to get out of this desert without some form of transportation he knew he was walking for hours now and his fake skin around his neck had already peeled off exposing the ugly scarring because of all the sweat. Well he didn't really have to explain to anyone what it came from anyway so he shouldn't really worry

He was grateful he had the hood of his uniform to shield him from the blazing sun earlier but now that it was night time he had put it back to get the cool air of the night on his skin.

He was walking slowly when he heard something above him then the large gust of sand pushed him to the ground from in front of him. He quickly put his hood back on before the sand cleared and saw a younger version of Superman standing in front of him

His eyebrows furrowed as he stood up then saw a large ship appear behind him and some other kids came out

"Bats your ok sorry it took so long to find you" Kid flash ran up to his face but then frowned when he saw his neck "Oh geez what happened to your neck through?"

Dick at least recognized kid flash he had talked to him once on patrol but got yelled at by flash a few days later for coming near his partner like he had told Wally to come.

"Hello Black bat I'm Miss martian. I know you might have some memory loss but I can restore the last six months for you"

He narrowed his eyes "Why would I let you into my mind?" she could find out about the court and his time in Juvie

"I promise I won't interfere into any of your secrets I'll just restore what happened the last six months. Were a team for the justice league and your dad batman sends us on missions"

"Yeah and this is one of them we got our memories wiped by Simon" wally explained

He lifted an eyebrow why would the league let him anywhere near their protégé's but that would explain what he was doing out here "Fine" he sighed

"Thanks" M'gann smiled then purged into his mind restoring everything that had happened but not looking into his secret ID life

"You remember now?" Wally asked once they were done and he nodded "Ok now you wanna answer my question about your neck?"

He tried to come up with a reasonable explanation "It's none of your concern"

"Oh come on again with the secrecy don't you trust us at all?"

"Yes but that scar doesn't matter"

"Alright fine don't tell me it's not like I care" kid flash huffed and walked back to the Bio-ship with everyone as they sat down

Once they were in the air he noticed how the archer teammate was glaring at him and he sighed "What?"

"Nothing" she quickly turned away making him sigh again

He already knew why she was mad because he had broken her dad's neck but that was a long time ago couldn't they just get over it and move on.

_To be continued_

**Still don't know how to end chapters I did want to have an talon show up but I already have a plan for them to show up just to scare dick on another mission I think I'll have one after they meet zatanna at least too**


	24. Homefront

HomeFront

Artemis leaned over and pushed the off button on her alarm clock before snuggling back in her covers, she glanced up at her Alice and wonderland poster and had a flashback of the night her older sister jade ran away

"Artemis get up" her mother's voice interrupted her thoughts. She wheeled by her bedroom door "I don't want you late for your first day of school"

She groaned and fell back on the bed

/Gotham Academy/

The school had finally been fixed from the amazo android and students were getting back to class like any other day. Artemis was fixing her skirt when a student came up to her

"Artemis, I'm bette your new student liaison, welcome to Gotham academy"

"Thanks I'm artemis…but you knew that"

"It's fine" she smiled then turned "Hey guys come and meet the new student" she waved over to a group of students

Artemis turned to where she was waving and saw 5 students, 3 boys and 2 girls as they walked over to meet her

"Guys I'd like to introduce you to artemis, artemis these are my friends Barbra Gordon, Lewis Langley, Julie yamamoto, Kevin Peterson, and Richard Wayne"

"It's nice to meet all of you" Artemis greeted as they greeted back then realized Richard;s last name "wait are you the son of Bruce and Selina Wayne?"

Dick lifted an eyebrow wouldn't that be obvious "Yes" he made sure to use his accent so she couldn't connect Black Bat's voice and his voice together

"It's thanks to them that I'm actually able to attend here, they sent me a letter with a four year scholarship"

He pretended to act surprised "Well congratulations" he smiled at her

"Thanks and tell them thanks for me too" he nodded

"Well would you like us to show you around the school?" Barbra asked

"Sure"

"Ok come on"

oOo

Artemis hurried down the alley dressing in her hero uniform, she had had an exhausting day at school but she was thankful she had made a few friends with the group of kids she had met, maybe not all rich kids were snobs. She was thankful that they protected her from the other kids who threatened to call her a charity case because by what she thought was pure luck Gotham's very own prince Richard Wayne was just in that group too

She didn't really expect to meet him so fast but she had learned that he was very popular at school and very smart, he was on the mathletes team, the academic decathlon team, and helped tutor some students sometimes. She already knew he was famous in the city too from some magazines he had appeared in and interviews so she thought it was kind of cool that she was actually friends with him now

She paused when she was about to open the telephone booth door seeing a shadow on the other side of the alley and quickly pulled out an arrow "Who's there" the shadow came forward revealing it was Black Bat "Wait what are you doing here?"

"I need to pick something up from the cave" he bluntly said

She lifted an eyebrow when he walked toward the booth "You're not going to ask why I'm in Gotham?"

"It's none of my business" He walked into the booth and disappeared in a flash of light

_RECOGNIZED: BLACK BAT B-01_

Artemis followed after him stepping inside the booth and disappearing in a flash of light

_RECOGNIZED: ARTEMIS B-07_

oOo

Dick had been expecting to head toward the mechanics room to retrieve the memory chip for the Meca-suit then just simply zeta tube back to gotham but he hadn't been expecting to be attacked once he stepped foot into the cave

He was able to dodge the ball of fire coming at him, he then heard the tubes announce artemis's arrival "Get down!" back flipping to her side tossing two of his disks in the direction where the attacks came from

Another blast of fire came at them but they were able to dodge it in time, after dodging another blast they saw two figures through the smoke of the fire. "Who are we fighting?" she asked him

"Unknown, we need to retreat" with that he ran toward the zeta-tubes hearing her footsteps behind him but before they could make it a large wave of water crashed right in front of them. he quickly turned to try and run but he knew they wouldn't make it so held his breath as he felt the wave of water crash into his back

He and artemis were flung into a wall by the wave until it retreated so got up and began running

Artemis ran after him grabbed her bow that she had dropped then firing an arrow in the direction the fire blasts were coming from. She followed Black bat through the gym hearing him trying to contact the team

"Black Bat to team..come in..aqualad?"

She tried to telepathically communicate them _"M'gann can you hear me are you there?"_

Another Fire blast flung them through the doors of the second half of the gym but they quickly recovered and ran toward the shower room

"Black Bat to batcave, override RW-4" Black bat and artemis ran into the shower room avoiding the fire tornado after them and moved to turn on the water "Cave calling Justice League…HOJ/ Watchtower B-01 priority red"

All dick was connected with was static, he inwardly swore this was just perfect. He and artemis back into the center of the shower room 'The water seems to be helping' until he heard the pipes groaning from inside the walls and water burst through the shower heads filling room so held his breath again

'Never thought I would actually thank the court for something' He was glad that they had thought him to hold his breath for at least 8 minutes and had improved it to 12 with bat training

He looked out the door to see that the water was only filling up the shower room since the fire tornado was still outside so got out one of his disks and attached it to the wall. Once it exploded they slid into the hallway he saw artemis was trying to catch her breath while he just let it out and began running again

Artemis right on his tail they ran to the kitchen "Where too?" he was the professional here

"We need get lost"

She looked around then above the stove "The air vents"

"Go!" he told her then turned to the computer tablet on the wall hooking his USB cord up to it, he heard her pull off the vent's grate then call to him "What are you—"

"Downloading blueprints" he then heard metal footsteps coming from the hall they had just come from so motioned for her to go as he unplugged his cord and ran after her. He pulled up a map on his glove "Left"

Artemis obeyed going down the left tunnel

Right as he turned a large fire blast blew through the tunnel they had just come from and just like any other time he saw large fire he thought back to the day he was left for dead at the court how he was meant to die. He shook it off knowing this wasn't the time for that "First right"

Artemis took off the grate and both of them slid down the chute, they landed on a grated walkway and he pulled up the map again then ran down the left staircase knowing artemis would follow anyway

When they were on the lower walkway an explosion from above caught their attention and saw a figure with in a blaze of fire, after it looked around it shoot fires around from above its head

They jumped off the walkway down to the floor and hide behind some machines. Dick looked over to see that the heaters were overheating 'Not good' he quickly ran down the path between some more machines and dodged more fire blasts that came at them

They hide again behind another machine, he pulled up the map again "There is an access tunnel here…"

"This one?" he turned to see artemis pull off the grate of a tunnel on the floor then jumped in so he attached a disk to the machine then followed after her.

While they were crawling through the tunnels of the he looked over to see a Panel so stopped and pulled it open with one of his knifes. Artemis turned to see what he was doing seeing him attach his USB cord to the panel

"Locking out caves motion and heat sensors to keep the enemy from tracking us" he answered her questioning look

"And I ask again who is the enemy?"

He pulled up some video feed on the holographic computer to see Kid flash was fixing a motorcycle while everyone else was standing

"_Torque wrench" Miss martian used her telekinesis to float the tool over to kid flash "Thank you green cheeks"_

"_I have been meaning to ask. Any problem juggling school work with your responsibilities here?" aqualad asked_

"_Nope"_

"_Jugglings just one of my many talents, socket wrench"_

"_Daily cheerleading practice has presented a challenge, oh- but my first loyalty is always to the team- this team not the bumblebees"_

"_Artemis starts school today and Black bat is always busy with gotham patrol do you think they will have trouble maintaining their loyalties?" _

Artemis narrowed her eyes at kaldur on the screen and Dick already knew the team was becoming suspicious of him so wasn't too angry he was used to it

_Wally rose to his feet" Nah they'll manage alright. I mean how much more hostile and annoying can artemis g-" he was interrupted when an explosion knocked them off their feet and the camera was broken_

"What happened!"

"Explosion took out the camera" he quickly pulled up the footage of the other camera's in the room. They watched but soon all the other camera's were broken too "All camera's to the hanger have been damaged, I'll find the quickest route there"

Artemis tried to reassure herself "Yeah, they're fine. They've all got superpowers they can handle anything"

oOo

Dick removed a grate from the ceiling of the library and both of them landed on the walkway heading down the stairs "There should be a secret passage behind one of these bookcases"

"Seriously Cliché much?"

He didn't bother responding as they walked down a couple of sections of bookshelfs until they heard a sound come from behind them bring them to their battle stances. They turned and ran to hide behind a bookshelf

They heard the sound of metal footsteps coming toward them then heard a voice "Artemis, Black bat?"

Artemis was about to say something but he quickly covered her mouth and motioned for her to keep quiet. She lifted an eyebrow but then he pushed her back and to hide from that section and made her see as the voice showed itself and saw it wasn't red tornado

He was right why didn't they hear the sound of battling if Red Tornado was at the cave but as they were about to leave the room they were stopped by another female android block the door and blast fire at them

They were able to dodge them climbing up the bookshelfs and jumping from shelf to shelf "Who-What are they?" the sprinklers above them turned on and he could feel the beat of the water through his hood

He jumped down and heard artemis firing more arrows at the androids while he looked through the books of the shelf but the sound of the shelf's falling one after another toward him alerted him 'Stay calm!' he found the correct book just as artemis jumped down beside him and both of them jumped down into the passage once it was open

"Did you know tornado had…siblings?" Artemis asked

He didn't answer her because that was not important even if he did know he still didn't have a plan on escape or defeat. Just as he was about to turn down a hallway he was jerked back, he turned slightly annoyed to see Artemis grabbing his wrist

"So now what? Red Tornado is one of the power houses of the league how are we supposed to take down two of him?"

"We need to get to the hanger" he said simply getting his wrist back

"With those crazy robots aft-" she was interrupted by a voice over the speakers

"Attention Black Bat, Attention Artemis, you have exactly ten minutes to surrender or the lives of your teammates will be extinguished"

oOo

"Eight minutes"

Black bat and artemis were running down a hallway that would lead to the hanger but both stopped when a wave of water came from the other end he held his breath again as they tried to run away but were caught in the water

He looked over to artemis seeing she was running out of breath so took out his rebreather and swam over to her putting it in her mouth. She accepted it grateful that she could breathe as he searched for a way out but before he could he heard artemis yelp grabbing his foot so he turned to see the male android had gotten her so he grabbed one of her arrows and jabbed it in one of its eyes making it let go

He grabbed artemis then launched a grappling hook to the end of the hall leaving some explosive behind. They came out of the water reaching the hanger

"Look out!"

They looked up to see a fire blast coming at them so dove back into the water and swam over to kid flash and Superboy "You guys ok?"

"Forget us help M'gann" superboy yelled looking to the cage of fire that trapped her and aqualad

"Aqualad is she..?"

"She is unconscious…I fear she..we cannot survive much longer"

The female android flew over and fired more blasts, dick dove back into the water and artemis followed after him. They emerged at the bottom of the stairs and began running up but the male android appeared at the bottom and the female landed at the top

"I'm almost out of arrows!" artemis complained

"Distact her!" he threw his last few disks at the male android and one of them embedding itself into the metal beside Kid flash's head who yelped in surprise. Their attacks did nothing to the androids so he ran over and jumped back into the water followed by artemis

Dick took off the grate of another vent and let artemis go first before swimming in after her, they went up another vent and emerged near a latter. They climbed up it and he sat in the vent while she caught her breath and he tried to think of a plan

"Six minutes remaining"

'S**t'

"What do we do now?" Artemis asked

"Save them that's our job" he bluntly told her

"Maybe that's what it's supposed to be but those robots already took out our four- SUPERPOWERED friends"

"I realize that"

"M'gann is dying, we have no powers, and I'm down to my last arrow! We are done for!"

"Calm down!" he yelled he was getting annoyed already he knew what was at stake he didn't need her to tell him, he had already felt he was going to die young anyway

"How can you be so calm?" artemis asked

He turned away and began crawling down the vent "I've been trained my entire life" it wasn't a lie anyway he had been trained sine he could walk by the graysons, the court, and now his parents

"Doubt that" she muttered "But what good is that now? What chance do we have against unrelenting machines"

That statement made him feel stupid 'I'm an idiot' "Their machines! An electromagnetic pulse should shut them down"

"Great, but you better have am EMP emitter in your utility belt because I know I don't have one in my quiver"

"No but I'm sure we can make one" he pressed his com-link in his ear "Kid flash did you hear that?"

"Yeah totally!"

"Five minutes"

"Wish we had more time though"

oOo

He pushed the panel off a vent in the Med Lab and crawled out onto the floor

"Med Lab X-ray machine" he and artemis ran over to a machine "You'll find a small vacuum tube called a vircator that convents high energy pulses" Dick plugged his USB into the machine "Reprogram units microwave conversion from X-ray to EMP…..with the cascading energy vector directed outward"

He turned the cylinder machine then carefully removed it from the X-ray machine "Ripple effect"

"Ten to the twelfth wattage, yeah"

He pulled up a map on his holographic computer again "Need to connect it to the caves main generator"

"Which is where?" artemis asked

oOo

Black Bat and Artemis jumped out of the vent and landed on a platform close to the generator, he looked over to see the androids were on the platform by the cage of fire

He pressed his com "Make with the distraction"

Wally looked up to the two androids "Hey Red Tomato! Who's your girlfriend Red Onion?"

Superboy yelled next "Yeah and by the way worst death trap ever! We can escape anytime we want

Dick and Artemis ran across the platform while they continued to distract the androids

"I can vibrate my molecules out of here before your binary brains can count to two" Wally was tying though he could usually vibrate through walls this stuff was made of some unknown material that was affecting that ability

"Cover me" he whispered to artemis then attached a cable to the mountain wall before jumping and landing on the generator

"And you can't drown a kryptonian Dumb-bots we don't breathe air!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Dick positioned the EMP inside the generator and plugged it into his holographic computer 'Rerouting power'

"And Miss Martian I can't believe your buying her act!"

"Yeah you known how hot it gets in the caves of mars? That cage is just making her homesick"

"Duh! Hahaha!"

"It's not working" he hissed looking it over and his eyes widened when he found the problem "Circuits incomplete!' he began searching his belt "Something conductible a piece of metal or…"

"BLACK BAT LOOK OUT!" he heard artemis scream then looked over to see a tidal wave coming toward him, he only had enough time to get up before the wave caught him. The saw that the android was control the water so he couldn't get out so knew he was trapped 'Play dead' he opened his mouth and pretended to drown but accidently breathes in water causing him to black out

oOo

The first thing he became aware of when he regained consciousness was the calmness in the air so choked out the water that had made its way into his lungs and slowly opened his eyes seeing someone above him

"He's breathing too!" artemis yelled

As he sat up he saw her sit back in relief

oOo

"M'gann?" Conner grabbed her hand as she was being supported by kaldur

"I'll be fine"

Artemis had a laser to try and free wally and conner

"Will you quite playing with that thing and cut us free already?" wally yelled

"It's not working genius, EMP shuts down all machines remember"

"All machines present at the time" they turned to see Red Tornado coming down to them "What had occurred"

"Had a visit from your extremely nasty family" artemis looked over to the two reds

"I was not aware I had relations"

"Where have you been?"

"Moniter duty on the watchtower when it became clear cave communications were down I attempted to investigate but your zeta-tubes were also non-functional" red tornado leaned down over the other reds "I transported to providence and proceeded here"

Sphere flew out of its position in the wall over to superboy "Hey boy"

The laser in artemis's hands fired out making her gasp

"The pulse has worn off" Wally and dick said at the same time then looked over to the reds

Red tornado got a shock from the female android before it's eyes glew red making his glow red too then formed tornados sucking out the air from the room making them all fall unconscious

oOo

Selina was pacing around the batcave she had the Bat communicator in her hand and had been trying to contact her son; he had been gone for hours retrieving the memory chip should have only taken 30 minutes at the most

Why wasn't he answering? Had he gotten into trouble on the way? Was he captured? Was he being tortured? Did William come back?

"Ok, Ok calm down Selina I'm sure there's a perfect explanation" she tried to calm herself "Maybe he ran into Bruce and went to spend time with him" she thought but Bruce had gone to the watchtower to do some work on the computer systems about an hour ago

Dick wasn't the type to not notify them if he was going somewhere and he said he was going to the mountain to get the ship so maybe he decided to work on the suit and lost track of time

"Yeah that's probably it" she assured herself dick did always get lost in his own little world when he was working on mechanics "I should probably go get him then" she walked over to the zeta tubes and tried to teleport to the mountain but it brought up unavailable

"Ok don't panic!" she told herself, she decided to go to the watchtower to notify Bruce about the problem

oOo

Batman was just about to head home when the zeta-tubes announced Batwoman coming to the watchtower "Selina what are you doing here?"

"Something is wrong"

"What is it?"

"I can't reach dick and the zeta-tubes to the mountain are offline"

Bruce's eyes widened he knew this was not normal the mountain had state of the art technology so for them to not be working was unusual. He turned to the watchtowers computer and tried to pull up security footage of the mountain but they were all unavailable

"Selina stay calm" he told her seeing she was about to panic then reached up to his com "All available leaguers report to Mount justice now! Don't try the zeta-tubes they're not working"

"Let's go"

oOo

All of the leaguers met up outside the mountain side entrance

"What is going on?" Green arrow asked

"Why aren't the tubes working?" Flash asked

"We'll find out once we're inside superman get those doors open" Bruce ordered

Superman and Aquaman combined their strengths to pull open the steel doors of the mountain leading to the mission room. They all stared in shock of the destruction inside

Broken arrows and disks were lying across the ground, singe marks on the floor and walls with small fires around and small puddles of water everywhere

Selina had the right to worry now she looked at all of dicks weapons on the floor and knew that there had been a fight but with whom.

"The court?" Captain atom asked

"Don't jump to conclusions"

"It looks like a way zone in here" Barry looked around at the damage

"Where are the kids?" Aquaman asked

"Wally!" Barry yelled through the cave but didn't get a response

"They can't have left all the zeta-tubes were offline until a few minutes ago" Superman checked a working computer

"The only other way out is though the ocean"

"There was an EMP emission about an hour ago here"

Barry ran off thought the halls to try and find the kids with Martian manhunter and superman right behind him

The others spread out to try and find any sign of them but couldn't find anything

"What could have caused this?" Selina asked as she and Bruce walked down a couple of halls

"I don't know but I'm sure the kids will tell us once we find them"

"Dick knows not to use up all his weapons in one day" Selina looked to all the disks that were on the floors of the halls but while they were walking through a hall they caught sight of something on the ground

They ran over to it and bruce picked it up to see it was dick's cape/hood. Before they could say anything they barry called over the com's

"Everyone we found them they're in the hanger"

And not long after that they all appeared at the hanger and saw the entire team was unconscious, Wally and Conner were trapped in some kind of metal being held up right, M'gann, Artemis, and Kaldur were all unconscious on the floor

Bruce and Selina caught sight of their son unconscious as well on the floor near aqualad "Dick!" Selina yelled and jumped off the higher part of the hanger and ran over to him with batman

From the corner of their eyes they saw the other members rushing over to their protégé's to wake them up. Selina rolled him over to his back and felt his neck to find a beating pulse,

"He's alive" Selina assured her husband

"But why is he unconscious in the first place?"

Selina began shaking him and patting him on the cheek to wake him up "Dick? Dick wake up"

"Wally wake up" flash began rustling Wally's hair to wake him up and he began waking up very slowly

"Uncle barry?" he moaned

"I'm right here walls"

Miss martian was awoken by her uncle through their telepathic powers and Black canary had woken up superboy while aquaman woke up kaldur. Green arrow and Superman were waking up artemis

Dick moaned and began opening his eyes to see the faces of his parents "Mom? Dad?"

"Were right here" she assured him

He coughed spitting out some more water that had caught up in his lungs

"What happened?" Bruce asked

Dick's eyes widened and he looked around frantically "They're gone" he groaned

"Who?" Selina asked

"Some androids alike to Red Tornado attacked the cave we set an EMP to shut them down but once Red Tornado arrived they must have reprogrammed him because he attacked us by sapping the air out of the room"

Batman and Batwoman frowned looking to each other while they helped Dick get to his feet

"She's alright"

Artemis had regained consciousness

"What happened?" Superman asked

"What happened? The Reds happened, Red Tornado and his evil- wait where are they?"

"Long gone" Wally yelled over to her

"Is everyone alright?" Kaldur asked

"None of us where really hurt, you, m'gann, and Black bat were the ones who really almost died" Wally said

"What!" Selina cried

"Explain? Bruce ordered

Dick groaned, yeah electrum didn't save a person from drowning just like it save them from burning.

"Well Black bat was installing the EMP to the generator when one of the androids sent a wave of water at him drowning him I guess I don't really know since he wasn't moving for a while"

"I was faking it"

"Yeah that's why you were coughing out water"

"Take him to the med Bay at the Batcave" Brcue told his wife

"Right" she smiled and took him as he groaned he did like having caring parents but they could be really overprotective at unneeded times

_To be continued_

**I know I forgot to put him taking off his cape/hood in that hallway but I didn't really want to go back and look for that part to rewrite it so just left it like that. I needed to finish this up fast to go and cook dinner I'm making steak tonight and that takes a while to make**


	25. Alpha Male

Alpha Male

All available justice leaguers were at the mountain to help repair all the damages that the Reds had made. Dick had been in complete shock when he went to the mechanics room and found that the Meca-suit had been destroyed, the only thing left was just a couple of pieces from the fire, guess he was going to have to start from scratch again. Right now Batman wanted him at the mountain with batwoman to help explain what had happened

Green Arrow set down a bowl of pretzels down in front of Kid Flash

"Thanks but no thanks" Wally glared at the archer

"Yeah we want answers" Artemis joined in "About Red Tornado and his siblings"

Dick didn't really care about the situation the reds had tried to kill them so why should they even bother looking for them unless they knew they were coming back. Finding Tornado would be up to the league anyway since he was a part of their league and not the team

Green Arrow stared down at them, Wally continued "exactly" when Oliver was about to take the bowl back Wally stopped him "Uh, leave the bowl" and began stuffing his mouth making artemis slap her forehead

It was silent for while before they heard a angry shout behind them where aqualad had been talking with the adult bats. "YOU KNEW!"

Dick turned just in time to see Superboy push Aqualad up against the mountain wall "That android and his family nearly killed M'gann"

M'gann flew over to break them apart "Conner what are you doing?"

"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!"

'Great' he inwardly groaned once he caught sight of the few leaguers in the room turn their attention to him 'I never wanted to work for the court!' he felt like yelling but knew that would be just like telling everyone he was an ex-assassin

Selina glared back at the leaguers making them turn their attention away from her son

"You knew?!" Kid flash yelled

"And didn't tell us!" Artemis yelled

"I sought to protect the team—"

"Protect us from what?" artemis continued "Knowledge that might have saved our lives"

Superboy looked to Miss martian "You almost died"

"Enough!" they all turned to batman "With Red Tornado missing, the team will now be overseen by rotating Justice League members. Captain Marval had volunteered to take the first shift"

Dick looked over to see the boy in his superhero form walk up behind batman "I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys" his eyebrow twitched, Billy could at least try to hide his child like personality

Superboy turned back to Aqualad "After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are gonna—" but batman stepped forward interrupting him

"Red Tornado is a member of the justice league that makes him a league responsibility, you will leave him to us. I have another assignment for the mission" he pulled up the holographic computer with a newspaper article on it

Dick lifted an eyebrow after reading the name

After wally read the title out loud, superboy communicated through their mind link _"Was this the only thing he could find to distract us?"_

"Please tell me you're not actually sending us on this joke of a mission?" artemis groaned

Batman glared "I never joke about the mission" he growled "I've checked the sources, I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents. Aqualad you and your team will depart for India and check this out"

Aqualad nodded but seemed a bit unsure

Dick could already tell this mission was not going to go well. Wally bumped into Kaldur as he walked by him "Hmph your team?"

He was the last one to leave "Are you sure it's wise to send us on a mission considering their attitudes?"

"I'm sure they can work together" Batwoman assured him

"Just make sure to be on your guard"

He nodded and went after the team

oOo

"You coming with?" Wally asked once Captain Marvel flew toward the Bio-ship

"Sure we'll have a blast" he cheered before walking inside the ship

"Translation he blames us for red fiasco, doesn't trust us" Kid flash whispered into his ear as he walked by, kaldur must have walked in then "It's a big club"

'Oh I have a big enough fan club for haters already kid' he thought as he strapped himself in on his chair

oOo

The bio-ship flew over the island so Miss Martian opened the hatch so Black Bat and Artemis could jump out with their cables. He unclipped the cable from his belt and scanned the jungle with artemis as the bio-ship landed and everyone else got out

"All clear"

Aqualad tapped his uniform making It turn from blue and red to black and gray "Switch to stealth mode, we will review mission perimeters"

Kid flash tapped the lightning bolt on his chest and the yellow and red faded to black and gray too "Perimeters we don't need to stinking perimeters, it's recon we know what to do" he then sped off into the jungle

'Idiot' he thought even though they already knew the requirement for a recon mission they still needed to know the area before barging in with no information

"Come on" superboy walked up and grabbed miss martians arm "I'll keep you safe" but she flung her arm out of his grasp

"_You're my boyfriend Conner not my keeper stop behaving like a character from a 70's show" _she turned away and crossed her arms

"I..just want to protect you"

Artemis walked up and jabbed her bow into his chest "Like aqualad protected us, I'm not sure your protection or patronizing is good for our health" she and miss maritan walked away into the jungle

"Why didn't you stop them you're supposed to be in charge" superboy yelled to aqualad

"I am—"

Superboy waved him off then jumped away

'None of you will listen to him that's why'

"Um did I miss the part where you actually said what the plan was?" Captain Marvel asked

Aqualad sighed then turned to him "You are not angry?"

"I know you must have had reasons why you kept this information from us. They should have let you explain first"

"Thank you" he then turned to the direction kid flash had gone "Can you go and make sure kid is alright"

He nodded running off

oOo

"So you got tired of having kaldur boss you around too?" Wally sped up to him while he was walking through he jungle

"No he sent me to make sure you did not do anything idiotic"

"How are you not angry about this!" he yelled

"We need to focus on the mission. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment" he walked past him further into the jungle

"You can't tell me your not angry I mean something like this must have happened once before in your life and you didn't get angry about that either?"

Dick thought about that as he was walking yes lots of people had kept major secrets from him. The graysons didn't tell him he was sold to the court of owls for entertainment purposes in return, William lied about him being the court's heir he could go on forever but he learned to hide his true emotions "Yes and some of them were life threatening as well but I learned leave it behind"

"What did your parents do that almost caused you to die then"

"It wasn't them it was about something else"

"What?"

"Nothing that concerns you"

Wally groaned "Did Batman or Batwoman ever keep secrets from you?"

Dick thought about that too but they promised him that there would be no secrets between them, and he was sure they didn't know about the mole until kaldur told them "No"

"Not even once"

"No"

"Man I wish I had parents like that" he could see wally was thinging about something before he continued "What do you think about aqaulad keeping this from us though"

"I'm sure he had his reasons"

"Reasons putting our lives in danger"

"I am sure kaldur would have told us if he had known that was going to happen. I do not believe Red Tornado is the traitor"

"What?!"

"Red Tornado had been a hero for decades he would not have suddenly just decided to go rouge the other android must have been capable of reprogramming his mainframe"

Wally paused taking that into consideration "Well that is true"

But he stopped in his tracks when he heard something above them

"What's wrong?" wally asked

He narrowed his eyes motioning for him to keep quiet then proceeded to walk forward. He switched his mask lenses to magnifying mode and scanned the jungle, something passed through the moonlight making them look up and catch sight of large vultures coming toward them

"Get down!" he and Wally jumped to the ground to avoid being hit

"I thought vultures only ate dead meat!" Kid flash yelled as they began running

He quickly threw some of his disks up at the large birds and began running with kid. Vultures did only eat dead meat and he doubted he would taste very good with the electrum, he noticed that these were much larger than any normal vulture though

"Kobra venom must have increased their size"

He looked to see that the vultures where about to grab him with their talons so he dove intot he bushes to avoid it 'Talons? Oh right' owls had talons too. As he watched the vultures keep flying he noticed something around their necks that looked oddly familiar 'Shock collars?' no he got a closer look "Inhibitor collars" they just looked a lot like his old collar

Dick ran and dove under the log of a tree as a vulture began coming after him. He threw another one of his disks and managed to clip off the edge of one of its wings making it screech in anger as it crashed into the ground

He inwardly flinched when it hurt it's wing he always had a soft spot for animals and it had killed a part of him inside when he was forced to kill all those animals in his assassin training. But these vultures were trying to kill him so he guessed he shouldn't feel too bad

He heard another screech from above to see kid flash had taken out the other vulture. He used his acrobatics to flip through the trees over to where the vulture had landed to see it wasn't too injured, he landed next to its talons while it continued to try and fly

He ran over to its neck and destroyed the collar on it, and a few seconds later the vulture no longer had the violent behavior it had a few moments ago. But it was still in pain from the injury he had caused

He looked through his belt to try and find something to help and found a few bandages so walked over to its wing and patched it up putting it back in the right position, the vulture looked alright now it got up to its feet and began flapping its wings as it was able to fly off

"Dude how do you know how to do that?" he heard and turned to see kid flash coming toward him

"Read about it" it wasn't a lie anyway

Before wally could say anything else Miss Martian contacted them through their mind-link

"_Link established"_

"_Did Aqualad order that? Should he really still be giving us orders? And should you really be following them? _Artemis complained

"_Listen, please—" _

"_Oh good aqualad's voice in my head, I so missed that!" _Wally complained

"_Kid flash and I were attacked by vultures" _Dick tried to get them to focus on the mission _"How are is everyo—"_

"_Superboy are you online or just pouting" _Miss Martian interrupted him 

"_Busy. Call back later"_

"_What gets me is how nonchalant he is about not telling us even if he did have a reason" _Wally continued

"_How can he be team leader when he doesn't even trust us with his secrets?"_

That hit a pang in dick's chest that was another reason he declined on being leader too

"_Or if Conner doesn't trust us to take care of ourselves"_

"_Did he really think one of us could be the mole? I know the league doesn't trust you but you've never done anything wrong with us" _

Dick felt a headache coming on with all this arguing he wished they would act a little more professional no wonder they were treated like kids so much

"_Trust is a two way street"_

"_And you know everyone else would hate it if we kept secrets from them—"_

Dick was about to say something when a large wave of frustration hit them through the link. He inwardly smiled- finally kadlur was doing something about this

"_ENOUGH! Captain marvel has been captured, and we must act as a team if we are to save him"_

Wally scoffed _"Under your leadership? I don't think so—"_

"_This is not up for debate! You all chose me to lead, when the mission is over, if you choose to select a new leader , I will happily step down. But until that time I am in command here. Return to the Bio-ship , we will discuss the plan there"_

The mind-link ended and dick began walking in the direction they had left the bio-ship

"I for one think we should vote for a new leader"

"No one else on the team is qualified enough to lead"

"What!"

"Artemis is too cocky and doesn't take orders well, superboy is thickheaded, and Miss Martian is too timid. You are too carefree; you're never serious enough to take control of others"

"Ok what about you you're a bat I'm sure batman or batwoman taught you how to lead"

Dick had never lead anyone before since batman was always in charge, and with the talons William was the head and whenever he was sent out on missions with a group one of the older talons were to lead. He really couldn't see anyone else to lead in those situations anyway

"No"

"Well you could try"

"You just said yourself that a leader shouldn't keep secrets and I have plenty that I am not ready to expose"

"Fine but it's still up to the entire team"

oOo

The team ran through the shadows, making sure not to be seen or heard by anyone who could be nearby. He was glad that aqualad had persuaded the team into focusing on the mission for once, now they could actually get something done

Although superboy had yet to join them and was not answering to any of their calls but aqualad had decided to focus on that later. They came to a building that was hidden within the jungle-most likely where captain marvel had been taken

"_I'll fly over" _Miss martian called

"_Negative. The field stands as a dome around the entire compound"_

"_The pylons are insulated. But an attack could disrupt it causing a momentary gap"_

"_I see a target" _artemis called

"_Then be ready to hit it, be ready all of you" _they watched as aqualad ran up to the shield and his atlantian tattoos began glowing as he shot electricity through the shield, and slowly the gap began forming between his hands

"_Now!"_

Artemis fired her arrow flying past kaldur through the gap colliding with the control panel shutting the shield off. Aqualad motioned for the others to join him, kid flash ran forward with miss martian flying behind him, but he stopped when he caught sight of a monkey sitting on top of the building with a collar around it's neck

Before he could warn the team it screeched making the others jump in surprise then get out their weapons. The alarms began going off and more monkeys ran out from behind the first one toward them.

Dick began fighting the monkeys trying not to hurt them by grabbing one of their tails then throwing it into a group of other monkeys but one grabbed his cape and made him fall to the ground so he grabbed its neck then threw it over him before flipping back to his feet. He punched one in the face making it squeal in pain he was about to check if it was ok when a group of monkeys all came at him at the same time and made him fall to the ground

He was fighting to make sure they didn't dig their teeth into his skin because that would be hard to explain to the team once the holes disappeared in a matter of minutes.

"Remove their collars!" aqualad yelled

Yes as if he didn't think of that already with them grabbing at his arms and legs. suddenly an arrow came at the monkeys knocking off the collars and they ran into the jungle. He decided to return the favor throwing two of his disks at her

She at first thought they were going to hit her but they went past her hitting the collars off monkeys that were about to attack her. 'oh'

The doors to the building opened and a huge ape came walking out with machine gun in its hand and a red hat. He watched as it grabbed a campoflauged Miss martian and threw her to the ground

'Yes animals can sense you'

When it was about to attack her again kid flash ran forward "Get your paws off her you darn dirty ape" but when he collided with its chest it made him fall back skidding across the ground

Dick could see that the ape was distracted so he decided to just blow a hole through the buildings wall with a couple of his disks just as he turned to see Miss Martian use her telekinesis to destroy the ape's machine gun

They came over to him and ran in through the hole with him. The first thing they saw was captain marvel shackled on a examination table with surgical equipment surrounding him

Dick had a brief flashback of the day he was induced with the electrum he had been in pain for hours after it and was left on the table the entire time so he couldn't even move

The second thing he saw was the brain. He was grateful for once that they had gone on a mission that didn't involve anyone he had ever come in contact with or the talons did in the past. At least that he knew of

"It's the brain!" wally yelled

"I can see it's a brain kid idiot!"

"Not a brain, the brain"

The brain rolled forward toward them as the ape got to its feet with the machine gun "In ze flesh, or so to speak. Mallah!"

Mallah must have been the ape's name as it pulled out a remote pressing a button on it making medal rods come out of the ground below them and caused them to collapse

"_Miss Martian, Superboy, go!" _

M'ganns eyes began glowing taking the remote from mallah's paws and hovering it over to her, woth a click of a button the strage power emitting from the rods released them so they could all get back to their feet

Superboy burst through the wall behind Mallah, his shirt was completely ripped and there were claw marks all over his skin, a large white wolf walking in behind him. The wolf growled then charged at mallah knocking him to the floor before it was thrown off

Wally ran forward and slammed his foot into the ape's chest before running off, mallah fired at kid but he was able to avoid them so he swung in with his grappling hook kicking it across the face before swinging away. Miss Martian levitated mallah off the ground then hit him back to the ground and flew away when it began shooting at her

Superboy attacked last with a shout attacking it as artemis got ready and fired a few explosive arrows at the ape when superboy was pushed back

Black bat came to join her and threw some of his disks at the ape, aqualad shielded himself from brain's rays with some water then ran off when more rays came at him. The team had them both surrounded as kaldur came and released captain marvel from the table

"Thanks" captain marvel jumped off the table "Now one more thing" he took the collar off a tiger that was lying on the ground by the examination table

Mallah turned to see Captain Marvel was free, then looked to see superboy and wolf approaching him, it let out a growl

"Try it, I hate monkeys" Superboy began cracking his knuckles

"No mallah, this is not our waterloo" Large equipment began emerging from the brain's mechanical body and the sound of a whine from it as it began glowing red "Au revior"

"Get down!" kid flash yelled

The lights went out right after everyone braced themselves and after a few moments of silence the lights came back on but the brain and Mallah were long gone

"Wait that big weapon thing was a light switch?" kid flash asked

Aqualad and Captain Marvel turned to each other before sighing "This mission is over although the villains got away I believe this mission was a success. We succeeded in discovering the cause of the animals' strange behavior and I do not believe the brain will remain in India. Miss Martian call the Bio-ship we're done here"

Black bat walked out of the compound with the team not even noticing the Court Of Owls symbol on some of the brand new equipment that was in there

oOo

As they were walking to the Bio-ship artemis turned to kid flash "What are you grinning about?"

"One word: souvenir" kid flash put on the hat that had belonged to Mallah

"Two words: gorilla lice"

Wally gasped and quickly took off the hat "wha, aw man!"

Kaldur took off the final collar that had been around a monkeys neck letting run off into the jungle

"That's the last of the collars?" Captain marvel bent down to the tigers level letting t growl "And I can count on you to keep the other animals out of trouble" the tiger growled again "Good I'll be back for a visit..promise" he said before getting back up and the tiger ran off "I think I'll call him Mr. tawny"

Black bat's eyebrow's furrowed he doubted that would be a good name for the tiger, although he had named his elephant at the circus zitka but that actually had meaning. He had gotten that name from a book that he had to read by the Grayson's called _the descendants of Simon kroupa: and descendants of lada and zitka families_

"The rest of the pack is gone, what are you still doing here?" Conner asked the white wolf that had followed them

"I think he wants to stay with you" Miss martian told him

"Can I keep him?"

Wally laughed "First the sphere now this beast dude you sure make a habit of collecting strays"

"Maybe because he's such a stray himself" M'gann looked down to him and must have had a telepathic conversation with him

"Well he's gonna need a name" wally said once they were done "Uh, how's about kyrpto?"

The wolf growled a bit "Pass"

"Besides isn't that taken?"

As kaldur was walking up the ramp of the Bio-ship, black bat asked "Was there an explanation for the reason you kept the mole from us?" he turned to see the others wanted to know too

"The source of the tip was sportsmaster"

"What! You can't trust him" artemis yelled

" I do not. It seemed possible even likely that he was attempting to divide the team with false information"

"And given how this mission went eh nearly did" wally said

"But you did take in to consideration that it may be correct information" black bat asked

"Yes as leader I did, in which case I did not wish to alert the traitor"

"Hate to say it but makes sense" superboy confessed

Dick wondered if sportsmaster was trying to turn the team against him as revenge for what he did to him, or if somehow he found out the truth

"I am still prepared to step down as leader"

"All in favor of keeping aqualad as leader?" kid flash asked raising a hand and soon everyone else agreed

"Guess it's unanimous" Captain Marvel walked up and placed a hand on aqualad's shoulder then shook hands with him "See you tomorrow"

"You're not coming back with us?"

"Nah gotta fly" he took off into the sky

After they walked into the Bio-ship and closed the hatch a shadow ran off into the jungle just before it took off

_To be continued_

**I need help with my magazine cover project. I wanted to put the nicknames on the cover so I put Batman as the dark knight, Black bat as the boy wonder but I can't think of one of batwoman so I'm asking if anyone has suggestions that could help me out **

**I'm starting to move the talons back in little by little **


	26. Revelation

Revelation

Aqualad wanted to test himself against Black Bat's combat skills in a spar when he had arrived at the mountain, he reluctantly agreed but he could see zatara was keeping a watchful eye on him during their little match while Captain Marvel ate a candy bar

Kaldur aimed a punch at him but he ducked and flipped away, then blocked another punch with his arm and sent his own at kaldur to the jaw but he could see he was about to back flip to so quickly sent a kick to his side knocking him to the ground

_Aqualad: fail_

Miss Martian and Superboy walked in with wolf from the front hallway as Kid flash and Artemis walked in from the back hallway

"So if zatara is our babysitter, why is he still here?" Wally pointed to captain marvel "And why is he eating my snacks"

_RECOGNIZED: BATMAN 02_

"Computer national news" Batman said just as he appeared

_The reporter Cat grant appeared on the screen "The initial attack was short lived but metropolis was only granted a short reprieve" _the video switched to a giant plant crushing a skyscraper then to superman getting two civilians off a collapsing roof _"And despite the intervention of superman and the justice league there seems to be no end in sight" _The hawks and Green Lantern joined in to fight back the plants

"Should we get out there?" Superboy asked

"No the league will soon have the situation under control" Batman turned to the team "That's not why I'm here, according to your Intel sportsmaster supplied Cadmus blockbuster formula to kobra"

"And combined it with bane's venom to create kobra venom that the brain used to create his animal fiasco" wally added

"And upgrade wolf" Conner pet wolf's jaw

"The brain also used inhibitor collars like the ones at belle reve penitentry" M'gann continued

"Batman is it possible that plant thingy is on kobra venom too?" artemis asked

"I had green lantern run a spot analysis" batman waved for a keyboard "Devine cellulose does contain trace amount of a kobra venom variant"

"These cannot be coincidences, unrelated criminals are cooperating with one another world wide" Kaldur brought up

"Exactly it's now clear our enemy's have formed some kind of secret society" Batman narrowed his eyes "Of supervillians, the attack on metropolis is only the beginning"

Dick brought up video feed of other places under attack with a keyboard "The plant creatues have sprouted in Gotham city, Paris, Star city, and Tibet" all the screens suddenly went to static

"Dude" wally complained

"That was not my doing" he tried to pull the videos back up "The satellite signal is being hacked"

The screens lit back up but this time The Joker was on screen smiling as usual, he tapped the camera with his fingers first _"Ladies and gentlemen we interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem to being you this important announcement" _joker turned the camera over to a group of villains "_From the IN-justice league"_

Count vertigo began speaking "_We are responsible for the attacks on your cities if you wish to save them a ransom of ten billion American dollars is required. Delivery instructions have been sent to the united nations there is no time limit but the longer your governments wait—"_

Joker pulled the camera back over to him _"The more we get to have our…jollies"_ he laughed before the video went back to static

Batman places his finger on him com "Roger that aquaman the UN will prepare the ransom as a fallback but it won't come to that"

Dick typed away on the keyboard pulling up the video feed to the group of the Supervillians "Count Vertifo, The joker, Poison ivy, Ultra humanite, Atomic skull, Black atom, and Wotan"

"There's your secret society" Wally told him

"Not so secret anymore" artemis added

"Perhaps after India they realized we would deduce the truth and saw no point in hiding any longer" Kaldur suggested

"Yeah" wally brought up a fist "That was their mistake right now I say we go kick some plant creature butt"

Batman interrupted him "The justice league will handle the plants I have a different job for this team"

"Aw man" wally moaned before artemis hit him on the arm

"With the plants attacking so many locations simultaneously there must be a central control system your mission is to destroy it"

"You realize what your really asking them to do?" zatara asked

"They're ready"

"Ready? Ready for wha—" Wally was hit again on the arm by artemis "Ow, will you cut tha—"

"Hello Wally if the big guns are fighting plants who do you think we'll be fighting?"

"I don't know I guess we'll—" artemis pointed to the screen showing the group of villains "Oooooh"

"Well Batman I trust you are correct" zatara turned to him

"I trust you can locate the enemy?" batman asked

"Indeed Wotan's involvement suggests sorcery is part of how the plants are controlled" He recluntantly turned to dick "Black bat provide the hologram"

He complied typing for a minute before a holographic image of the earth appeared

"I'll search for signs of concentrated sorceries activity" Zatara walked up to the globe and held his hands to it saying a spell and immediately a red dot appeared "There that is where you will find the injustice leagues central control system"

"Coordinates locked in. the Louisiana bayou" Black bat stated

"We are on our way" aqulad said before they all headed off to get changed into their uniforms

Captain marvel was about to follow them when batman stopped him "Captain Marvel for this plan to succeed the entire justice league must be seen fighting the plant creatures. You zatara and I are needed elsewhere"

oOo

Back in gotham city batman was already in the batwing flying over a large plant creature that had sprouted trough the road spraying out weed killer. Captain marvel flew in and and took it out of the ground before flying it all the way into space and throwing it into the sun

Batman continued to spray the weed killer while zatara flew over the plants and said a speel catching it on fire but they didn't expect for gas to start coming out of spores releasing laughing gas

oOo

Joker laughed as he watched the scene through a crystal ball "Kobra venom had nothing on joker venom"

"Both work well in concert" count vertigo interrupted

"Yes but were putting considerable strain on my baby" Poison Ivy went down to her plant and pet it making it turn green. Ultra humanite walked over with a remote and activated the control system in the plant as wotan flew over and said a spell

"We will keep her healthy and safe ivy, but she requires more power, atomic skull"

Atomic skill sent a wave of electricity into the plant making it work even harder

"Stunning what our little teamwork can accomplish" count vertigo smiled until they heard an alarm "Intruder alert"

oOo

The bio-ship flew over the swap in camouflage mode

Wally looked over to kaldur "What's in the duffel?" gesturing to the bag at his feet

"Plan B"

Miss Martian groaned putting a hand to her head. Superboy turned to her "You alright?"

"Dizzy"

"I didn't know Martians got airsick" Wally looked over to her

"Not me her"

"I feel fine" artemis put a hand to her chest

"Not her the bio-ship she's trying to shield us but.."

Count vertigo began releasing his wave causing the ship to drop out of camouflage mode "There it is atom go!"

Black atom nodded the flew up to the ship punching it on the bottom causing it to spin around in the air before landing in the swampy waters , vines came out of the water and began dragging the ship down

The team heard banging from above and saw a hole form before they saw black atom

M'gann groaned holing her head "Ugh he's hurting her"

Superboy yelled jumping up to the hole and punching atom away but water began spilling through the hole

"No, no way am I drowning nearly three missions in a row" artemis complained as black bat dove into the water that was filling up the ship while she and Wally put rebreathers in their mouths

"M'gann we need to get out open a hatch" superboy put a hand on her arm

"Hello megan of course" Miss martian grew gills on her neck diving into the water and opening a hole at the bottom

"_out everyone out" _aqualad ordered and they all swam out one after another over to the island. They turned back to see the vines had succeeded in dragging down the ship

"She's in shock. She'll need time to recover" M'gann looked to conner before they were all attacked by count vertigo's wave

"vertigo" wally looked up

"Count vertigo to you, peasant"

Superboy got up and was about to go and attack vertigo when he was punched in the face by Black Atom. Aqualad looked over to the swamp water and got out his controllers moving the water and sending vertigo into the jungle with a wave

"_Black bat…Miss Martian disappear we will keep them busy, you two fulfill the mission objective" _

Miss Martian turned into camouflage mode while Black bat disappeared into the trees

Black atom punched kaldur in the face knocking him to the ground, wolf growled jumping at atom biting his arm but was they knocked off into artemis and kid flash

oOo

In paris the plant creature had the Eifel tower under attack. Martian manhunter flew in and dropped Aquaman onto the vines letting him rip them off while he turned intangible and went through the vines both getting the civilians trapped inside out

oOo

In Taipei a power plant was under attack. Flash ran by cutting a few vines off the ground while Blue devil used his trident to black the vines wrapping on the towers but some of them succeeded in crushing a tower causing a fire

Captaim atom flew in and absorbed the fire

oOo

In Star City a bridge was under attack. Green arrow and Red arrow sent some arrows that were attempting to break it in half at the vines destroying them. A school bus was wrapped in vines but Black Canary jumped onto the roof and used her screech to destroy the vines on it and around the bridge; she didn't see one vine until she was kicked off the roof by a vine

oOo

"Poor heroes nothing they do is quite enough" joker mocked "Ain't it grand?"

"And impressive" Poison ivy commented from her position on the plant "How you simultaneously juggle multiple scenarios"

Joker turned to her "I've had practice juggling my multiple personalities" he laughed and turned back to the crystal ball having the school bus on screen "Schools out!"

oOo

A large vine burst through the road and grabbed the school bus, Green arrow and Red arrow tried to destroy it but it didn't have any effect, the vine threw the bus off the bridge toward the ocean

The three heros ran over to the side of the bridge to see where it landed but saw Guy Gardner caught the bus using his green lantern ring to form a baseball mitt

oOo

Black atom dropped superboy onto the ground with the Kid flash, Artemis, Aqualad and wolf

"Two are missing" count vertigo growled

Black bat was walking through the darkness of the jungle with his holographic computer showing a map

"_I've lost conner, aqualad and the others should we—"_

"_We have our orders"_ he interrupted pushing aside a large leaf showing the compound that located the injustice league's base "_the central control system of the injustice league" _he looked to the large plant that was sticking out from the roof _"That must be the plant that control the others worldwide"_

"Well hello" they turned just in time for poison ivy to wrap them In vines. Ultra humanite dropped down beside her and aimed his gun at black bat "And goodbye"

Miss maritan used her telekinesis to divert the aim of the gun onto the vines letting them get free then run off into the jungle

Poison ivy turned to see black bat running off "Sorry boy wonder I'm putting an end to your little recon sense mission" Vines burst out of the ground at his hit but he easily avoided getting grabbed sliding on a vine then flipping with a tree branch to avoid some others

Miss martian flew to avoid beign hit by Ultra humanite's gun then turned invisible

oOo

Atomic skull continued to power the plant while poision ivy was busy

"With so much power at my finger tips some might call me a control freak, others just a freak" Joker focus on a plant on one of his screens "Either works for me'

oOo

Batwoman flew over a plant shooting at it with the machine guns but it had no effect, her eyes widened when one of the vines slammed into the plane so quickly ejected and used her cape get away safely

Zatara flew over in a magical sphere saying another spell to cut off the edges of the vines as he took hold of the plant in another magical sphere. A man who had been on the road was knocked away by one of the vines

Plastic Man turned into a trampoline catching him and setting him back in the ground

oOo

Back in Paris the vines still had the Eifel tower under attack and one of the vines knocked a nearby helicopter out of the sky making the two people inside fall out. Rocket flew over and grabbed them before they hit the ground while icon caught the helicopter

oOo

Aqualad began waking up to see he and the others were trapped inside a magical cage

"They've awaken your certain this will hold them?" vertigo asked

"The cage is impenetrable even the superboy had no chance of escaping" Wotan grinned

"You are not the only one trained in the mystic arts wotan" aqualad tried to use his electricity to break free but it had no effect

"Please atlantian so not pretend you are in my league"

oOo

Black bat ran across a vine but it moved so he jumped over to another but it also moved making him fall onto the ground and look up to see multiple vines around him but they were all destroyed by an invisible Miss Martian _"Black bat she's made contact"_

"_Good"_

He looked up to see wotan get knocked away by the Bio-sip into the swamp water letting the cage down and the others get free. Black atom flew down and grabbed count vertigo before he fell into the water

"Not me stop those delinquents"

Superboy looked up to see ultra humanite with his gun in front of him "I hate monkeys" he and wolf charged at him

Artemis and Aqualad looked behind them to see poison ivy walking across one of her vines. They tried to reach for their weapons but saw they were gone, artemis groaned "Ugh I feel naked and not in a fun way"

Ivy sent some vines at them

"We will make our own fun as we have been trained maneuver 7" aqualad held his hands together as artemis ran to him and jumped up from his hands kicking ivy out of her position

Wally sped over to Count Vertigo and Black atom but vertigo used his wave to weaken him and was then punched away by Black atom. "Where is the bat and the Martian!"

Ultra humanite flung superboy off his arm then grabbed Wolf and threw him off his back. Poision Ivy sent artemis flying with one of her vines then turned to the compound and gasped "my baby" hundreds of black bat's disks were attached to it and after a few seconds exploded causing it to collapse

Poison ivy groaned at the fire and looked to the roof to see Black bat and Miss martian "No!" she grew more vines and sent them at the two heroes but miss martian used her power to destroy them but was then knocked away by atomic skull

"Children? Children foiled our plan" joker asked as atomic skull fired at black bat "Inconceivable! Unacceptable! Retributional! That last one may not be a word so sue me"

"Kill them, Kill them all" Count vertigo ordered

Black Atom flew by and knocked superboy away into a tree. Count vertigo used his wave to weaken artemis, kid flash was about to go and help her but was struck by Wotan "Enough!" Black bat sent some of his disks at wotan but he shielded himself with his power

Wotan sent out multiple lightning bolts striking Black bat in the back,aqualad in the chest, artemis in her side, Kid flash in his stomach, superboy in the chest and Wolf on the side. A lightning bolt struck Miss Martian out of her camouflage mode too

Aqualad used his own power to diver the lighting away from him then the lighting on M'gann, he turned to her "Plan B"

Her eyes glew green making the Bio-ship fly above them and the Duffle Bag drop down into kaldur's hand. He unzipped it revealing the helmet of fate then held it above his head

Woton stopped the lighting "The helmet of fate"

Wally turned to him "No aqualad don't" but was knocked away by Black Atom before superboy caem and hit him in the chest

Kadlur placed the helmet on his head and in a flash of golden light his body was formed into 's uniform letting him take control of his body "Woton you are mine" . Wotan tried to fire a ray at him but Dr. Fate's ray overpower it hitting him into the compound and wrapping him in golden chains

Black bat was sitting in the swamp water gritting his teeth as the electrum healed a burn on his arm that he had received from Atomic skull when he heard something behind him and turned to see Joker with a knife "Wonder boy you are mine"

Joker laughed and approached him with his knife but he flipped out of the way. He could tell the electrum was almost done "Always wanted to put this bat on a plack" joker grinned and came at him again with two knifes

But as joker tried to stab him he ducked under both of them and grabbed his wrists kneeing him hard hard in the stomach and twisting his wrists grabbing the knifes out of his hands before kicking him into the swamp water

Wotan said a spell to release him from the chains and sent them back at Dr. Fate but he used his ankh symbol to shield him from the chains

"Wotan had prepared for your return doctor" he said another spell forming orbs in both his hands then combined them to fire a ray breaking the symbol causing to fall back

Miss Martian flew in camouflage mode to avoid being hit by Ivy's vines that were bursting through the ground "I can't see you martian but perhaps I'll hear you scream"

"And perhaps I can be of some assistance" Count vertigo came to Ivy's side and unleashed his wave making Miss martian reveal herself and yell in pain. But before either of them could attack her Kid Flash sped by knocking them out of their posture so when vertigo looked back up he saw artemis just before he was kicked into Ivy to the swamp waters

Wally ran behind a tree with a piece of vertigos cloak as artemis ran over to him and grabbed it out of his hands "ugh hey that's my souvenir"

"Hold still" she told him as she put the cloth into a make-shift sling. They heard something so she turned just in time for wolf to be knocked into her

"Artemis!" wally yelled but ran off before Ultra humanite could attack him

Woton continued to fire rays at Dr. Fate but missed each time. "Surrender sorcerer you cannot hope to defeat a lord of order" Fate fired a ray at him in the shape of his ankh symbol but woton absorbed in then disappeared

He reappeared behind Fate and fired a ray at him knocking him toward the ground " I can defeat you and I will—"

He was interrupted when he was hit by a ray from above by Zatara "Not tonight woton" he flew in with the hawks, maritan manhunter, Captain atom, and captain marvel. Woton landed in the swamp distracting ultra humanite long enough for superboy to punch him in the face

Black bat twisted around a tree while joker was coming at him and kicked him in the face knocking him to the ground just as a lasso came from above and wrapped him up. Joker looked up to see the Bats, Aquaman, Green arrow, and black canary were standing on a platform made by Green Lantern with Superman

All the justice Leaguers landed surrounding the villains "It's over" Batman told them

The villains looked at each other then held their hands up "There will be another day"

landed next to the heroes and took off the helmet

"Nabu let you go?" Wally asked him

"He almost did not but your friend kent was most helpful, he says hello"

"We're done here. The supervillian secret society has been neutralized, as for your performance" batman looked over the team "It was satisfactory"

"He means good job" Batwoman whispered into Black bats ear making him smile a bit behind his hood

oOo

"Impressive the plant creatures have proven their usefulness as potential weapons. More importantly the so called heroes now believe our secret society has been revealed and crushed. With the injustice league serving as our proxies we are once again free to operate with impurity" Vandle savage came out of the shadows and turned to his fellow members

Queen Bee, Ra's Al ghul, Lex Luthor, Klarion, and The brain

"I would also like to introduce a new member that will be most helpful in our mission" vandle turned to look behind them and they all turned to see an old man that looked about Ra's age dressing in armor coming toward them "Welcome William Cobb"

William smirked and nodded

"The shadows will continue to conceal our light"

_To be continued_

**I don't know if the court of owls would ever join the light but it's still a fanfiction but I don't really have a plan for where I'm going with this or if I still want to have a mind-controlled justice league**.


	27. Humanity

Humanity

"Pineapple Juice" Captain Marvel handed wally a cup as he sipped it through a straw

"Ahh, just what the doctor ordered"

"How's the arm doing Wally?"

"Nothing wrong nachos can't handle"

"Nachos? Ooh I'll go get you some" he then flew off ]

Aqualad, Superboy, Miss martian, and Artemis were on all on the platform training their combat skills when black canary came over to them "Good work everyone, in fact it's been a very productive week"

"Yeah for everyone except kid malingerer" Artemis smirked over to him

"Hey arm broken in combat against the injustice league here"

Black canary laughed a bit shaking her head "I've really enjoyed being your …uh den mother this week" in the background you could hear the zeta tubes activating

_REDONGIZED: ZATARA 11_

Zatara pulled up a holographic keyboard and typed in a few commands

_ACCESS GRANTED: ZATANNA ZATARA A-03 AUTHORIZATION ZATARA_

The zeta tubes lit up again and a young girl about 13 years old dressing in a school uniform appeared, she seemed a bit nervous to be there

"Zatanna this is the team, team my daughter Zatanna" zatara gestured over to her

Miss martian flew over to her "Hi I'm Miss martian but you can call me M'gann" she turned to the team "And that's Wally, kaldur, artemis, and Conner"

"Welcome to the cave" Aqualad greeted

"Uh thanks"

"So are you joining the team?" M'gann asked

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves" Zatara actually didn't want her around black bat at all, he was actually wondering if he should bring her here if black bat was here too "Is black bat around?"

"Yeah but he's been holed up in the mechanics room for hours building the bat-bot" Wally shrugged

Zatara felt a bit relieved, maybe he would stay there until Zatanna left so he turned to canary "I am sorry we missed the training something from which Zatanna could benefit"

"_Does anyone get the impression that the league is giving black bat the cold shoulder?" _Miss martian asked

"_That's been going on for years babe it's nothing new"_

"_We're still on probabtion too you know" _

"_Yeah not just with zatara, why is marvel still hanging around"_

"_Because we like having him around"_

"_You like having him around because he waits on you hand and foot"_

"_And you point is…"_

"_It almost makes one nostalgic for Red Tornado as our supervisor, he actually trusted us" _

"_If you ignore the fact we shouldn't have trusted him, he was a traitor that machine nearly got M'g—all of us killed" _

Zatanna got suspicious of the gestures the team was giving each other "Are you guys having a psychic conversation" drawing their attention "Because I can't decide if that's cool or really rude"

Superboy looked to see Zatara and Black Canary were giving them looks "All right fine we were talking about tornado it's been weeks since his attack and the league hasn't told us anything"

"The league is searching for tornado as well as the other androids that invaded the cave and their creator T.O Marrow batman's made tracking them down our highest priority"

"But you've found none of the above" Artemis placed her hands on her hips

"Not yet. But tornado is justice league…..the team is not to pursue this"

"Why don't you all take Zatanna on a uh—" zatara saw that she had disappeared "Tour of the cave"

The team turned to see Zatanna was lying on Wolf's side

"Ah your giving a tour" Captain marvel came in with a plate of nachos "Cool"

"Actually I was hoping you'd take wolf outside he needs the exercise…we'll join you in a few" Superboy asked

"Sure, sure I can do that come on boy" Marvel ran off with wolf down a hallway

"Uh-what bout my nachos?" Wally asked before conner grabbed him by the collar and pulled him with them

"Make sure not to bother….uh black bat while he's working" Zatara warned them

"Sure"

But the team didn't listen because that was right where they were heading

"We're not really taking a tour are we?" Zatanna asked

"No we're hunting down that robot" Conner looked over to kaldur

"Yes we are"

"Oh wow out loud and everything but why are we heading to the basement then?"

"We need Black Bat's help in tracking them down so we're taking him with us"

Zatanna smiled she had been trying to conceal her excitement to meet black bat the first partner in history, the boy wonder, part of the dynamic trio. She had been at first a little disappointed to see he wasn't in the mission room we she arrived but when she head he was in the mountain she was hoping that she would actually get to see him

"But what about new girl?" Artemis asked

"I'm sure she won't tell" wally shrugged

"I can't tell, not if you kidnap me" she wanted to see black bat in action too

"Oh she's gonna fit in great"

When they came to the door of the Mechanics room they were able to hear the sound of working from the inside, so when they opened the doors they saw Black bat he was sitting in the newly top fixed portion of the bat suit although the chest was missing testing out the arms movements , he also had something over his eyes and covering his ears

While he was moving the left arm it seemed to short circuit making him frown at it then bend over and check the computer panel for malfunctions

"Hey Bats" Wally ran over and called to him but he didn't seem to hear him since he didn't greet him

"I don't think he can hear you Wally" Artemis pointed to the things over his ears

Zatanna was a bit starstruck now that she was actually seeing Black bat in person, he didn't have his cape or hood on letting her see his messy black hair and his well defined muscles making her blush.

"Got a crush already huh?" Miss martian smiled

"No I haven't even talked to him yet" She tried to deny it

Wally and artemis were arguing over how to get his attention when he went back to position ending up knocking Wally to the ground with the movement of the repaired left arm

"Wally?"

"I'm good" he put thumbs up to him

Black bat unhooked himself from the suit turning it off then jumped down to help him up

"Do you need a hearing aid or something?"

He ignored the question "Why is everyone here?"

"We wanted to go on our own mission but we need your help on it" Artemis told him

"Has the league given you permission?"

"Yeah" superboy lied knowing he didn't really like to go against orders

Miss martain decided to help Zatanna out here "Black bat I'd like to introduce you to Zatanna" she gestured to her making her feel on the spot when he turned to her "She's the daughter of Zatara and here to visit"

Dick had heard about Zatanna before from batman "Greetings" he held out his gloved hand to her

She hesitantly took it "Nice to meet you"

"Now can we get on our way" Wally asked

"Let's go everyone" Aqualad ordered

Black bat went over to a table and put his cape/hood back on before following them out the door

oOo

Black canary noticed that the Bio-ship had taken off so contacted them _"_M'gann the Bio-ship wasn't authorized for departure_"_

"_We're kidnapping Zatanna….to uh show her happy harbor, be back soon"_

"Roger that..uh..have fun_"_

" I did not give permission for—"

"They're good kids Giovanni, trustworthy kids don't worry at least black bat isn't with them " She turned from him and frowned knowing Black bat had left with them but he didn't, she didn't want him to have a roid rage

oOo

"Where are we going?" Wally asked

"Batman is the Worlds Greatest Detective, he has searched for the androids and Morrow in every logical location" Black bat told them

"So if we want to do better were gonna need an illogical solution" Artemis turned to wally and smirked "A truly dumb idea"

Wally looked to see everyone else was looking to him "As a matter of fact"

oOo

Dick inwardly groaned. Why? Out of all people did they have to come to Ivo he did not want the team to learn anymore from him about his past so he decided to stay in the back with Zatanna while the others interrogated him

"Warden Strange owed us a favor for stopping last month's prison break" Miss martian started off "He's given us five minutes with you"

"Spill Ivo how to we find T.O Marrow and his Reds" Superboy asked

"Now why in the world would I know how to find Morrow?"

"Because and here's a truly dumb idea, your Morrow's biggest competitor in the evil android game who better to keep up what he's up to and where" Kid flash told him

"Ah I see your point so let me rephrase. Why in the world would I tell you how to find morrow? Unless you threatened to kill me" Ivo smirked looking over to Black bat

The others didn't see that so aqualad turned to M'gann "He knows do what you must" M'gann nodded and her eyes started glowing to Ivo

"Oh please as if I've never faced a telepath before"

Zatanna came to his side and said a spell making him blurt out "Morrow's in a secret underground base beneath yellow stone national park 100 meters south of old faithful"

The others were quite surprised at what they had just witnessed but black bat didn't seem to be paying attention anyway so he didn't really look to care.

"Wait what just happened?"

"I said a spell that would make you confess where morrow was" Zatanna smirked

"Fine so I've never faced against magical beings" Ivo crossed his arms

"We are done here" Aqualad told everyone so they all nodded and headed to the door

But just as Black bat put his hand on the door knob Ivo called to him "Oh and Black bat" making him stop from turning it "Grandpa says hello" his eyes widened making him turn around to Ivo in complete shock

Everyone else was confused by what had just happened

Ivo smirked "He says he looks forward to seeing you again" he laughed a bit at his dumbfounded expression "Oh you knew this day would come"

He growled and burst out the door shocking everyone else

"What was that about?" artemis asked

"oh you'll find out soon enough"

oOo

"Lock out all external communication" Aqualad ordered. "Soon Canary and Zatara and batman and batwoman too I imagine will know of our visit to professor Ivo we haven't much time"

The others saw that Black bat seemed to be in a foul mood after what Ivo had told him. The truth was dick didn't know whether to believe ivo or think he was playing a trick on him to scare him. If it was the truth then he was scared thinking William was going to come for him and finish what he started and kill him or kill his parents

"Black bat are you ok?" Zatanna asked

"Fine"

"What happened back there between you and Ivo that's the second time you've given an indication that you know each other" Wally asked

"And Now this thing with your grandpa" Artemis asked

"It doesn't concern you"

"I think it does right after you stomped out of the room ivo told us that your grandpa would involve us too"

Dick's eyes widened he could get that William knew he had lived and about Bruce and Selina but how did he know about the team.

"Why would his grandpa hurt us though wouldn't he be like Batman or batwomans dad?"

"Let's just focus on getting this done then heading back to the mountain" Black bat changed the subject because he really didn't want to be out here with only this group of heroes in training as protection

"Fine what's our ETA to Yellowstone?" Superboy asked "I'm way past ready to smash tornado into a trash compactor"

"Are you so certain he betrayed us?" aqualad asked

"Aren't you?"

"I am not convinced and even so that makes him the victim of his creators programming. Certainly he deserves the chance to prove he's more than the weapon he was designed to be"

Superboy became silent and turned back to the window

oOo

"Stealth mode" Aqualad ordered changing his suit and the others followed in his example. As he was walking to the open hatch he turned to Zatanna "I recommend you stay behind"

"Is that an order?"

"No you must do as you see fit"

"Good" she said a spell changing her clothes into a female version of zatara's uniform. She wanted black bat to see her in action to so she could make a good impression

oOo

Black bat was at the head of everyone and pulled out his holographic computer "There is something down there" Aqualad ran forward as everyone else followed him but the winds began picking up blowing them all away

Superboy looked up to see Red Tornado crossing his arms and was floating in the air with a tornado he had made at his feet then surrounded them with multiple other tornados

"Why tornado? Why are you doing this?" M'gann yelled she then turned to superboy_ "Message received"_

He nodded "Who cares why nail him!" he ran forward. Aqualad ran after him

"Superboy maneuver 7" conner cupped his hands and lifted aqualad up as he jumped from his hands. Aqualad came and tried to punch tornado but was punched instead slamming into superboy

Artemis fired two arrows at him but they were sent back at her and black bat causing a mini explosion. Kid flash got to his feet "That does it Red you're not the only spin doctor around here" he began spinning around in a circle making his own tornado heading over to him

But Miss martian tried to hit him from heind and was grabbed by the wrist then thrown into Kid flash sending them both to the ground. Zatanna ran forward and tried to say a spell but tornado grabbed her by the neck and then threw her down to the ground with the others

Red tornado continued to hover over the team

"Quite a performance brother" Red Volcano came up to him from behind "But we both know that's all it was" indicating the 'play dead' writing in the dirt "I have all your memories tornado plus a next gen processor , I know your next move before you do" he lifted the ground around the writing up and lfited it up behind him as the team began getting up "Blowing a message into the sand" he broke the rock apart then sent them at the team

Aqualad and superboy crushed the rocks, Miss martian levitated them away from her, Black bat and Zatanna jumped out of the way of one coming toward them

"_Red Tornado's getting away" _Zatanna called

"_Is he abandoning us?" _Artemis asked

"_I don't believe that" _Miss martian argued

Wally ran up the rock pillar that Red volcano was on. "You stand no chance against me human" Volcano punched wally away from him

"We're not human!" Superboy and Miss martian yelled as they came toward him

"Apologies I suppose the properly inclusive term is..meat bags" he stated as his rocks slammed into the both of them. then he created a ravine making artemis and Aqualad fall in but she quickly fired an arrow to the top with a rope on it and brought them both back to the surface

Black bat ran up a rock formation and threw some of his disks at volcano but he caught it in his hand as it exploded and it did no harm to him "Tornado's memory files and my superior processing speed allow me to anticipate your every move"

Zatanna said a spell making the smoke around Volcano wrap around his eyes "Torando never knew my moves" Dick had to admit he was impressed by the rookies advanced abilities. Zatanna saw this and smiled

But Red Volcano fired lasers out of his eyes and then made the volcano behind him erupt. Volcano sent flaming rocks after Kid flash

"_He's activating a stage 2 eruption" _Wally said as he dodged the flaming rocks _"If he reaches 3 kiss the hemisphere goodbye"_

"_Hit him from all sides" _Aqualad ordered as he and Superboy launched at him but where both knocked away. Miss Martian came up behind him in camouflage mode and tried to use her telekinesis to pull him back but Volcano made lava erupt beside her causing her to scream

"M'gann!" Conner yelled and tried to run over to help but Volcano landed in between then knocked him away. Volcano grabbed M'gann by her cloak

Zatanna said a spell to make multiple Kid Flash's with the smoke erupting from the volcano. "I use a skill down version when I wanna sneak out of the house"

Red Volcano sent rocks at the kid flash's but none of the ones he hit were the right ones and the real one was able to speed by and grab m'gann from his grip back over to the team. Water erupted from behind aqualad then pushed Volcano into the lava

"Nice hit man" Wally smiled

"The hit was not mine. Look" He pointed over to show Red Torpedo had caused it then lifted up into the air with the water and fired more water at volcano just as he came back up but volcano was lifting himself with a rock pillar

Red Tornado came and destroyed the pillar causing him to fall back down into the lava. When he caem back up fire blast were firing at him from above and he saw it was Red Inferno she came down to him and tried to push him into the lava "Sister, Brothers stop!"

Red Torpedo came down and helped Red Inferno drag Red Volcano into the lava as Red Tornado used his feet to keep him down letting the Lava start to melt them away "Father would be so disappointed". Supeboy came and grabbed Tornado just before he could fully melt away

The ground began to shake and they saw that the volcano was starting to become bigger so wally turned to Red "Tornado listen we're on the verge of a stage 3 super volcano eruption. There's no turning back from that, we need to vent pressure fast, the ash cloud will bring on worldwide nuclear winter unless you divert it

Red Tornado nodded

Wally turned to Black Bat "Triangulate a round of pressure locus"

He pulled up his holographic computer pulling up an image of the volcano with three red dots on it "There" Artemis fired at the three spots

Red Tornado lifted up into the air above the ash cloud and began venting all the smoke with his giant tornado out into space. Wally saw the volcano stopped erupting "Yes" then turned just as tornado came back down to them

oOo

Black bat used his mechanical skills to reset Red Tornado's voice box "Done"

"Yes I can speak again" Red tornado pulled down the face of his head

"You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save the planet" Aqualad came up to him

"The planet would have survived it was humanity that was saved thought not by me, my sister and brother were the true heroes this day"

"My point is this, you were never the mole never a traitor"

"No I left to protect you from further attack to find my creator Morrow"

Kid flash got a piece of metal "Cool souvenir" he turned to see black bat looking at some parts for legs "Black bat can repair you"

"I do not believe I should be repaired"

"Why'd you volunteer to become our den mother in the first place" Superboy asked

"I was the pragmatic choice I do not require sleep, I have no secret identity or a second life to live"

"But you do have advanced AI programming designed to learn, adapt, evolve" Wally said as he pushed the fingers up on a robotic hand

"Hello Megan! You wanted to become more human"

"And you couldn't do that with the league" Zatanna finished "they're stiffs"

"Then the cave was not only an improving ground for us but for you as well" aqualad stated

"I do not know if these statements are accurate but perhaps they are true and if I understand the term correctly I believe I have come to care about you all"

"See, practically a meat bag already"

oOo

Once the Bio-ship landed back in the hanger of the Mountain and the team got out they were approached by Zatara, Black Canary, and Batwoman

"Zatanna are you alright?" Giovanni checked her over

"Yeah I'm perfectly fine"

"What were you thinking going on such a dangerous mission?" Black canary scolded

"Hey we succeeded in finding Red Tornado and stopping a level 3 Volcano eruption a thanks would be appreciated" Superboy crossed his arms

"Where is he now?" Batwoman asked

"He wanted to go and see the real T.O Morrow in the hospital" Aqualad informed them

"Black bat did not do anything to you did he?" Giovanni asked his daughter

"Of course not why would you ask that?"

Zatara turned to give black bat a piece of his mind but saw he was already gone; he looked to the hallway to see he was already out of sight

"Did anything happen on the mission?" Batwoman asked

"Well he did have a weird conversation with Ivo, he said something about his grandpa coming back for him or something?" artemis stated making selina's eyes widen

"Grandpa?" Black canary asked her

"Wouldn't' that be your or batman's dad though?"

Batwoman immediately turned and ran off after her son to find he had already left back to the batcave so she followed after him

oOo

She found Bruce was talking with him near the bat computer

"I don't know if it was true or if he was just trying to frighten me but he said that William was looking forward to seeing me again"

"Dick ivo does like to mess with people so he might have just been playing mind games to mess with you like you said" Selina came up to him from behind

"Even if it was true you still have our protection" Bruce told him as he began walking to the stairs

"That may not be enough and I doubt that the league would ever bother to help me" he said just before he left

_To be continued_

**I wanted Zatanna to be the one to like Dick because I don't think the other way around would work with the personality dick had now. Although he will start to warm up to her once he find out she likes him.**

**Still trying to think of a plot**


	28. Failsafe

Failsafe

The Team consisting of Aqualad, Superboy, Black Bat, Kid flash, Miss Martian, Artemis, and Zatanna were all in the mission room being debriefed about their simulation that was about to take place. All their mentors were there to see how their protégés did in the simulation too

"The simulation will be a training exercise that Martian Munhunter will link the seven of you within an artificial reality. This will be to train you to see what you can accomplish without the help of the league"

"But you all will know this is not real when you are inside" flash added

Suddenly behind the team 7 metal tables rose out of the ground in a circle around Martian manhunter

"Get ready we will begin momentarily" Batman spoke

The seven of them all went to lay down on one of the metal tables while they waited to begin

"Are you ready?" Martian Munhunter asked

"Yes Uncle J'onn" M'gann nodded

"Let's do this" Wally held thumbs up

"It should be fun too" Artemis smiled

"Make sure to be careful" Aquaman told his protégé

"Yes my king" Kaldur nodded

"Zatanna are you sure you want to do this?" Zatara asked

"Yes daddy I'll be fine"

"Make sure to keep your guard up" batwoman told her son and he nodded

A EEG machine was attached to each one of them to keep their brain activity on check as well as a cardiac monitor to keep check on their heart rates. Batman looked around to see all the members were laid down so turned to Martian manhunter "Begin"

J'onn nodded and his eyes began to glow and each member drifted off into a sleep-like state but their moniters showed no dangerous activity.

/oOo/

An alien mother ship was flying toward earth from space so Batman and Batwoman were flying their own spacecraft to intercept it. "Deploying camera sensor units" two probes from the back ejected and turned into satellites

Both Green lanterns flew up to the mother ship "Attention you have entered the boundaries of earth's space, disengage all weapons and engine's, this is your final warning" suddenly a light began to shin from the ship so both of them put up a shield but once they were blasted the ray broke through their shields and disintegrated them

"Code red full defense deploy" the bat ship opened its hatch and Superman, Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel, and captain atom flew out

The ray fired again but they all flew away to avoid it. The rays changed direction and disintegrated superman and Martian manhunter first then both captain marvel and captain atom. Batman and batwoman were shocked by what had just happened then saw their satellites were destroyed

A ship came out of the mother ship and flew over to their jet and disintegrated them along with their vehicle

oOo

Red Tornado saw everything from a screen in the mountain then got a incoming transmission from zatara "_Tornado did you—"_

"Yes zatara we saw" tornado indicated to the team behind him "celestial defenses failed. Initiate all terrestrial defenses"

"_Affirmative see you in the field_" the transmission was cut off

Tornado turned to the team "I must join the league, we will protect the planet at all costs but should we fail the responsibility falls to you"

Aqualad looked to each teammate "We stand ready"

oOo

"_This is Iris west Allen reporting live. The extra terrestrial have brought their relentless global attack to central city" two lasers shot behind her destroying some light posts then disintegrating a couple of people trying to run. Flash ran by and grabbed Iris before she could be hit as zatara teleported the camera man over to join them on a rooftop _

"_You should both be safe here. At least for now"_

"_Thank you flash and zatara" Iris thanked_

_Flash laid a hand on her shoulder before running off then zatarra used a spell to make a platform under his feet and flew himself up. "Denny you ok?"_

_The cameraman put a thumbs up "As you can see the justice league is attempting to hold the line-" while flash and zatara were going to help some people on another roof top a ship came by and disintegrated all of them_

"_No—" Iris's eyes widened_

"Iris! Isis get out of there!" Cat Grant yelled from the TV station as she saw a ship approach her on the screen before it went dead "I'm sorry we are experiencing technical difficulties from our central city feed—we take you now to a devastated Taipei where another league contingent is having a bit more luck

_A ship flew by and disintegrated both Hawkman and hawkgirl _

_Green arrow shot some of his arrows while Black Canary let out her screech destroying a couple of shipsbut both of them were disintegrated by a ship that came through the smoke _

"Ladies and Gentleman we've lost Black Canary, Green Arrow, and the Hawks. Other heroes reported dead or missing include Batman, Batwoman, Icon, Atom, and Aquaman"

oOo

Wonder woman used her lasso to spin around a ship then fling it into another ship that was flying by

"Wonder Woman above you!" Red Tornado called but it was too late and the ships had already disintegrated her too. The entire mother ship was coming down from above him so he moved out of the way "Red Tornado to cave I fear I am all that remains of the league…."

"_RT"_

Red tornado was disintegrated from behind before he could answer

oOo

The team was watching the destruction from multiple screens around the mission room

"We are earth's heroes now" aqualad concluded

"So what are we waiting for a theme song?" superboy turned to him

"A strategy, earth's weapons are ineffective and it has been made tragically clear a direct attack will not succeed"

"Checking satellite imagery" Black Bat brought up a holographic image of earth "That is where the aliens have been attacking"

"This one get lost?" Superboy pointed to a single dot at the north pole

"Superman's fortress of solitude"

"Superman has a fortress of solitude?" conner asked

"The power source most likely attracted the extra-terrestrials attention"

Conner turned away "Must be some fortress"

"Conner" M'gann grabbed his arm

"No it's ok I guess there's a lot about superman that I'll never know…ugh..you know now"

"Are we going after this one?" Zatanna asked

"Yes" aqualad nodded

"Yeah break it down, build more, hit those ugly aliens with their own mogo…Ow—" Kid flash was hit by artemis in the arm

"Martian and Kryptonian in the house" she gritted making them looked over to the two seeing they both were staring at him

"Uh not that all aliens are automatically ugly"

oOo

A single ship was facing the door to Superman's fortress. Artemis walked to the side of hiding behind an ice wall while Miss Martian flew up to it in camouflage mode and used her telekinesis to tear off a piece of the ship _"Communications disabled" _the ship fell to the ground

"_Propulsion disabled"_

"Artemis fired one of her arrows to block one of the rays from being able to fire as Zatanna said a spell to break the other one

"_ET's are sealed!"_

Aqualad jumped out of the water and landed on the side of the ship while Superboy jumped down and grabbed the large laser from moving around. Black bat jumped down onto the ship pulling out his holographic glove _"Identifying weapons structural weak points and links to the ship…Here, here, and here"_

Miss martian used her telekinesis to break each of the spots apart and superboy began to try and tear it out of the ship but a part fell off and began lighting up behind his legs. Wolf heard it and turned to see so ran up and pushed conner out of the way making the ray disintegrate him instead

"_Wolf!"_

"_There was no indication of feedback" _Black bat checked his screen

"_Can't do anything for him now" _ superboy walked back over and tore the laser out of the ship _"let's go"_

Miss martian brought to Bio-ship over and they both jumped over to it, miss maritan began attaching the bio-ship to the laser _"Rerouting systems to integrate weapon into ships biometrics, I'll need to de-camouflage for a few minutes"_

"_I don't think we have that much time" _Zatanna called

The team saw more of the ships coming toward them

"_Miss Martian open fire!" _Aqualad yelled

"_Can't weapon systems are offline until; I can cooperate the new canon and that's not fully integrated yet either!" _

"_Got you covered! Get inside I'm almost there!" _Artemis yelled as she fired more arrows and then tried to run before a ship flew up behind her but before she could attack a laser shot out and disintegrated her

"Artemis!" M'gann yelled

/oOo/

The simulation was going well so far that is until they began hearing warning from Artemis's monitors to see her brain activity was dangerously low and her heartbeat was too low as well. Then they saw M'gann's body began to float above her table

"What's happening!" Oliver yelled

"Artemis has died, she was disintegrated by one of the ships" Martian munhunter answered

"Then shouldn't she be waking up?"

"M'gann had taken control of the simulation I no longer have any control over it"

"So what does that mean!" Flash ran up to him

"M'gann is making the team believe that the simulation is their true reality"

All the monitors to the other teammates dropped a bit from their normal levels making the mentors begin to worry about their protégé's

"Dick!" Batwoman ran over to dick's body but he was still under the simulations control so he could not wake up

"J'onn can you fix this!" Batman yelled

"I will have to If I do not then once each member dies they will fall into a permanent coma"

"Then hurry!" Zatara yelled from zatanna's body

J'onn nodded and walked over to M'gann's body now that it had laid back down and put his hands to her head and entered the simulation

/oOo/

The team had been mourning artemis's death until they arrived back at the Hall of Justice. The building had gotten some damaged but was still standing until they walked inside and saw the statues of the original justice league members were in ruins

Black bat looked to the ruins of the Batman statue and thought back to the moment both of his parents died, leaving him behind. He turned away from the statue and looked back to the soldiers outside protecting the hall. 'Don't show any emotion' he recalled from his assassin training

M'gann had flown over to the ruins of Martian Manhunter's statue and was crying before she perked up and used her telekinisis to levitate it off and show the real Martian Mahunter groaning and holding his head

"Uncle J'onn!" she was about to fly up to him when aqualad stopped her

"_M'gann check his mind, make sure he is whom he appears to be_"

"_It's him, he's real and he's alive!"_

Black bat narrowed his eyes; he saw Martian munhunter die along with his parents. Good things like having a live justice league member didn't just happen so he was suspicious about this

"But we saw you get disintegrated, you and superman….and everyone" Superboy walked up

Miss martian helped her uncle to his feet "Yes, I remember, but I cannot remember how I survived, or how I arrived here"

"Maybe you were density shifting and the beam passed right through you" M'gann suggested

"Scrambling your brains so you couldn't remember it" Zatanna added

"My mind is clouded, but I feel certain I had something important to tell you"

"_Hello wally! Come on!"_

Kid flash dragged black bat over to the bio-ship and had him check the lasers that were emitted from it

"_I knew it look! It's giving of zeta-beams that same stuff that powers our zeta-tubes, this stuff doesn't disintegrate it teleports! Artemis is alive!" _

"_Perhaps.."_

"_No perhaps look! Their all alive!"_

"That must have been what you wanted to tell us!" M'gann smiled to her uncle

Before they could celebrate more of the ships came flying over the hall of justice, Black bat and Kid flash jumped down to shield behind a jeep

"_We're on our way!" _Aqualad called

"_Negative. We will not win this battle, Miss Martian camouflage the Bio-ship"_

Some lasers hit the bioship causing it to disintegrate and hurting both Martians inside

"M'gann!" Conner ran over to her helping her up while aqualad and Zatanna helped j'onn up

"That didn't fell like—"

"_We're falling back!" _

Some soldiers ran in with both Black bat and Kid flash "We're trapped" the doors to the library opened

"Maybe not" the soldiers ran in and aimed back at the door as the heroes ran in behind them "We can all zeta to the cave and you can grant us computer access to the tubes"

"I can only authorize one at a time"

"Send the soldiers first"

"Delay that! You seven are assets we cannot afford to lose" the air forces chief yelled

"Override martian manhunter 07"

_RECONGNIZED: ACCESS GRANTED_

The doors to the zeta tubes opened

_MISS MARTIAN B-05_

_ZATANNA B-08_

_BLACK BAT B-01_

_KID FLASH B-03_

The doors to the library were shot off by a laser pinning down some soldiers so superboy ran to help. Aqualad quickly grabbed Kid flash and threw him into the zeta tubes. Superboy ran and got the bolder off the pinned soldier and then helped him over to the zeta tubes "He goes next"

"Fine, then you"

_PRIVITE JASON BARD US MC_

"Can you make it?"

"Sure superman"

"I'm not—"

_SUPERBOY B-04_

The lasers quickly disintegrated all of the soldiers, aqualad helped martian manhunter over to the zeta tubes "They need you more than me! Go!" and threw him into the tubes before he was disintegrated too

/oOo/

The moniters attached to aqualad began sending out warning signals just like artemis's had a few minutes prior making his brain activity become dangerously low and his heart rate go down

"Kaldur!" aquaman yelled and ran over to him but he was slipping into a coma

"What's taking so long!" black canary yelled

"We just have to give him time"

"He needs to work faster"

/oOo/

"Our next mission is clear if we believe the extra-terrestrials have been teleporting their victims—"

"We do" wally interrupted black bat

"Then the only reasonable detention center is here" he brought up a screen showing the mothership "The mothership atop what was once smallville"

"Ring any bells?" Zatanna asked martian manhunter

"No I'm sorry"

"Superboy you'll create a distraction"

"NO!" M'gann yelled "He's offering you as a sacrifice! Aqualad would never do that!"

"You're right aqualad would sacrifice himself, a mistake that just cost him his life. Superboy is the most likely to be perceived as a threat, motivating the aliens to deploy"

"Worst case, he's teleported inside and we set him free along with artemis …and uh, aqualad and everyone"

Black bat watched as superboy and Miss Martian had their psychic conversation. He knew that he was being cruel by sending conner to his death but that was part of their job to do whatever it took for the world to be saved even if it meant sacrificing their own lives

oOo

Black bat was crouched looking through the magnifying lenses of his mask onto the mother ship when the others walked up to him from behind. He looked back to them "First team deploy"

Miss martian and Martian manhunter flew up in camouflage mode and J'onn helped m'gann through the walls of the mother ship with his density shifting "_Ready in postion"_

"_Be careful conner. I love you" _

Black bat nodded over to superboy and he jumped from their position over to the weapons on the mother ship ripping one of the lasers out and aiming it at the others _"Careful do not disconnect the power source" _

"Alright you glorified trespassers! You wanna see how a real alien fights!" Conner fired the laser at two others before the hatches opened up and some ships came flying out _"Now of never!"_

Kid flash grabbed Zatanna and Black bat by their hands and began running jumping off the cliff side and landing on one of the hatched before they began running separately _"Way's clear go!"_

They ran and hid behind a pillar to keep from being seen but didn't notice the one then came up to them from behind and was about to fire when it was knocked out of the way by their martian teammates

/outside/

Superboy was still fighting the ships with the laser he had until he was knocked from the laser by another but he flipped back to his feet. A laser shot at him from behind and disintegrated him

/oOo/

Superboy's moniters began sending out warning alerts notifying them that his brain acticity had become dangerously low and his heart rate was decreasing

"This is taking too long!" oliver yelled

Wolf ran over to try and wake superboy up but he wasn't moving at all as he began slipping into a coma

"Come on hang in there!" aquaman said to the members that had already died

/oOo/

Miss martian stopped running and almost fell over but her uncle caught her while she held her head _"No…he's gone" _ she dropped to her knees and began crying

Wally ran over and comforted her _"It's alright we'll find him with artemis, I know it"_

"_No, my mind is clear now the disintegration beam is exactly that. There is no detention facility, no prisoners to rescue our mission holds no purpose"_

Wally grabbed him by his shirt _"No you're wrong the zeta radiation proves she's alive! She's-!"_

Black bat grabbed him off Martian manhunter "_Stop it Wallace! I've been scanning for league and team signals since we entered the ship. They're not here"_

"_You have to face it Wally, artemis is gone" Zatanna told him _

"_Our mission does hold a purpose, to destroy this mother ship"_

Martian Manhunter helped M'gann back to her feet

Black bat walked off down a hall beside him, Zatanna looked to the others before following him and martian manhunter follower behind them. M'gann placed a hand on Wally's shoulder before going after them

Wally growled and rushed after them

oOo

They came to a room and hide behind a martian, all the room had was a few platforms surrounding a large yellow orb _"This is the power core! Destroy this and the entire mother ship goes"_

Black bat ran and jumped onto a platform but a strange force grabbed a hold of him and began pulling him toward the core making him fall, zatanna's eyes widened and ran over to help put she was pulled with him along with kid flash when he tried to pull them back sending them to the core

Dick quickly sent out a grappling hook and attached it to one of the platforms looking to his two teammates with him before looking up and seeing a robot approach but before it could attack miss martian and martian manhunter attacked it . M'gann then used her telekinesis to detach the grappling hook and slowly descended them to the core

Dick got the bombs hooked around his chest and put them down on the core then began setting them to explode

"_You knew, you knew right from the beginning why we were really here" _

Zatanna looked to her crush and saw he hadn't really been showing much emotion since his parents died, well neither had she when zatara dies she guessed he had felt he had to put up a strong face to keep going . she felt a little bad for him that he felt the need to look so tough even in these situations

"_4 minutes lets go"_

The bombs lights began blinking

oOo

When they were running to get out the doors to the outside closed

"_Perfect!" _wally groaned as the rest of the joined him at the closed doors

They heard robots approaching from both ends of the hall. Black bat looked to his timer _"25 seconds" _he turned to his martian teammates "_Manhunter take miss martian and get out of here_"

"_No we won't leave you_!"

"_That's an order_!"

They looked to each other before going through the floor of the ship

They heard the robots coming closer. "_I can vibrate us out of here!...but I can only take one of you_" wally confessed grimly

Black bat looked to Zatanna as she looked to him too "_Take Zatanna and go_"

"_What! No we won't leave you here alone!"_ she cried

The robots were coming closer "_Go no time to argue!"_

Kid flash extended his hand to Zatanna. She looked but then turned and gave black bat a quick hug before taking wally's hand and he ran to the doors vibrating both of them through leaving black bat alone

A laser shot to the wall by black bat's shoulder making hit jump and turn to see some robots had made it to the door so quickly turned and hide behind a pillar taking his timer back out

10

9

He sighed and slid down the pillar wall from his back as he waited for his death. Not surprising to him but death was going to be a relief for him, he had nothing left in this world to live for, both his parents were dead, Alfred too most likely, and if William had somehow survived through all of this he would have no protection what so ever

Death reminded him a lot of the time he was with the talons. Of the people he had killed he was a cruel heartless person when he had done those crimes. Death had taken away all the ones he cared for Bruce, Selina, Alfred, Barbra, Julie, bette, Kevin, and lewis

He was happy he was going to die that way he could be with all of them again he wouldn't have to go back to the hell of a life he had with willaim or anyone else

4

3

2

1

The last thing he heard was the sound of an explosion and the sensation of heat

/oOo/

Batman and Batwoman had hoped this wouldn't happen but their hoped were crushed when warning alerts began going off on dick's monitor indicating his brain activity was dangerously low and his heart rate even though it was irregular from the electrum began decreasing

"Dick!" batwoman cried and tried to wake him up by picking him up on her lap and began shaking him but he remained limp in her arms "Come on wake up!"

The other league members in the room turned to see black bat had died in the simulation before wally or Zatanna or m'gann had and wondered how he had died that had caused this

All of a sudden though the brain activity on dick's EEG was spiking back and forth from dangerously low to normal and they could see his body was fidgeting.

"The electrum is most likely trying to keep him from that coma" flash called over to their confused faces

"But he believes he's dead, won't that do something with the process" batman called from his position by his son

"It will probably kill him instead of a coma, the electrum can't keep him alive if he thinks he's dead"

"Dick it's not real! Please hand in there for just a little longer!" Selina cried

/oOo/

Kid flash was carrying Zatanna in his arms and successfully vibrated through the doors and ran for a few miles before they were both fell over from the force of the explosion of the mother ship that had killed black bat

"_He's dead isn't he" _Zatanna asked beginning to cry

Wally knew that Zatanna had liked black bat but now he will never know so he comforted her as their Martian teammate's density shirted out of the ground beside them

"_Don't say the mission was a success the price was to high"_

Suddenly a shadow came over all of them and they looked up to see another mother ship was floating above them. zatanna's eyes widened _"No…no..no..he didn't just die for nothing did he!"_

the lights shot out of the mothership and were about to fire when Martian manhunter grabbed m'gann and density shifted back into the ground but before wally could speed by and grab Zatanna the laser shot out and disintegrated her

The laser changed directions and came at him next, he tried to run but the laser easily shot him disintegrating him

/oOo/

A few seconds apart the monitors on Zatanna and Wally both gave out warning alerts that their brain activity was dangerously low and their heart rates were fast decreasing

"Zatanna!" Zatara tried to wake her up just like batwoman had with dick but she remain limp in his arms

A few minutes ago he was confused by the tears that were running down her race a few minutes after black bat's death but now he was more concerned

"Come on Walls. Just a little longer!" flash yelled

"What is taking J'onn so long they've all died now!" black canary yelled

"M'gann is still in control" batman told them

"She need to stop this she could end up killing them all" oliver yelled

/oOo/

Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian density shifted back above the ground once the ships were let out and they began attacking again

"We have to get out of here now, there's no one left!" M'gann cried as she turned to her uncle

J'onn looked to the ships in the sky then to M'gann taking her by the shoulder "No we have to end this now—" and punched her right throught he stomach

/oOo/

One by one each of the team members began waking up gasping like they had been holding their breaths. Dick was sweating hard when he rose from his comatose state but was hugged immediately "You're alright!"

He looked to see his mother Selina in her Batwoman personal

"Mom?"

She was too happy though to answer

Dick looked around at everyone else to see they were overjoyed at their protégés. He didn't know what to think either death was a lot like life or he was never dead to begin with

"You're all alive!" he heard and turned to see M'gann had awoken

"What happened in there?" Batman asked while he was supporting Martian manhunter

"The exercise it all went wrong"

"Exercise?"

"Try to remember. What you experienced was a training exercise; Martian manhunter psychically linked the seven of you in an artificial reality. You all knew this going in, what you didn't know was that it was a train for failure exercise. No matter what the team accomplished, the scenario was destined to grow worse. Still, you were all aware nothing was real, including the deaths of the entire justice league"

Martian manhunter took over the explanation "That is why you hardly grieved even when wolf was killed before your very eyes. But all that changed when Artemis died, thought consciously, Miss Martian knew it was not real, her subconscious mind could not make the distinction. She forgot it was only an exercise and took control of the simulation making all of you forget too"

"I-I'm so sorry"

"This isn't her fault why didn't you stop the exercise?"

"We tried, but m'gann had a death grip on the scenario. Even artemis who should have awakened upon her death was so convinced she had passed had slipped into a coma. I realized I would have to wrestle Miss Martian's sub control from within, but upon entering the reality I was overwhelmed by your collective emotion; there was too much notice to think clearly, to remember why I was there. The death's of aqualad and superboy at the hands of the disintegration beam helped, along with black bat's death from the explosion of the mother ship when he had chosed to save Zatanna instead of himself when kid flash offered to take one of them"

Batman and batwoman looked to their son but he turned away. The other leaguers were quite surprised by this he had chosen to die in exchange for kid flash and Zatanna to live. Dick knew what they were all thinking but he didn't just do that for their survival he had actually wanted to die

"But only after the mothership exploded and kid flash and Zatanna met the same fate as superboy and aqualad was my mind clear enough to remember my true purpose to shock m'gann out of the simulation before your coma's became permanent. My apologies, I had no idea a training simulation could be so dangerous …so damaging"

Miss martian had turned her back to everyone as captian marvel came over and comforted her

"As bad as all of that?"

"Perhaps worse"

"This isn't what troubles you"

"No mistake, my niece is untrained and cannot be held responsible for this. For our debacle"

"No one blames her , but clearly we underestimated her abilities"

"You understate it, in terms of raw power she has the strongest telepathic mind I have ever encountered, stronger by far than my own"

Dick was resting his chin on is knee staring blankly into space. Selina turned to him "Are you alright?"

"Fine" he sighed. Was it a bad thing that he was a little disappointed he hadn't died?

_To be continued_

**I needed an excuse for why wally wouldn't have vibrated dick out with him from the mothership. I had kid flash only trained enough to take one person with him so had Zatanna join in on this episode and I thought it would make her feel a little flattered that dick had exchanged his life for hers **

**Dick's not going t become suicidal **


	29. Disordered

Disordered

Even though he was trying not to show it both Bruce and Selina could tell that dick was emotionally scarred by the simulation exercise, even his friends at school could tell he wasn't himself since he was working himself to death by doing a lot of extra work for his AP classes and the training for black bat.

Every time they asked him if he wanted to talk about it he would say he was fine and continue on with his work, he was quieter than he had been in years like when he had first arrived at the manor, but he was putting up a strong face to try and fool them

Dick knew they were all concerned about him and they wanted to help but he didn't want to admit to anyone close to him that he was happy he was going to die in the simulation, he was afraid they would start thinking he had become suicidal from the talon treats. even if he did want to kill himself it wasn't possible without someone noticing, the electrum would quickly heal any injuries he sustained to himself like cutting his wrists

He was moving on, on his own by keeping his mind occupied with other matters he had to attend to like keeping his grades up in school to keep his status up, training to remain strong against criminals in the field and sticking to his daily routine like any other day

oOo

At the mountain the other teammates hadn't been faring much better than dick was, although they weren't working themselves to death they had been in a depressed state and barely talking to their mentors either

Out in the mission room Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, and Captain Marvel were watching them through monitors on the screen

_RECOGNIZED BATMAN 02_

"How are they?"

"I am still shaken by what you and I watched, one can only imagine how these youths fair "

"I know our virtual reality simulation training went….badly but I hoped the team would have rallied by now" Bruce had thought dick would be the fastest to recover from this traumatic experience since he had faced much worse with the talons but there is something wrong about what he had gone through during his last moments

The others were surprised by this statement "Trauma tends to linger as I know you know my friend"

"Black Canary?"

"She has her work cut out for her.."

oOo

"Look me dying during the exercise might have started things going south but I was coma girl missed out on all the fun of forgetting it wasn't real, so no trauma no need for the shrink wrap"

"You're too tough the need help"

"Whatever maybe"

"Or maybe too tough to admit you need help, artemis it's not a sign of weakness to open up to your friends"

Artemis began clenching the sleeve of her shirt "I know that"

"But you still keep secrets from them"

"You won't tell them you can't!"

"I won't but you should, you could start by admitting you're not really green arrows niece"

She scoffed "Right, can you imagine what wally would do with that?"

Dinah seemed surprised for a second "Interesting, so the person you're most worried about is wally"

/Aqualad/

"I was the general, behaved like a soldier by sacrificing myself I am not fit for command and must resign as team leader"

"Who do you recommend to take your place?" She had to admit that some of the league members were lightening up on dick since they believed the simulation was real and he had sacrificed himself for the entire earth to be saved along with four of their heroes

"Artemis is to raw in trusting, Kid Flash to rash and impulsive, Miss Martian remains to eager to please, Superboy carries to much anger, Zatanna is new to the team and does not have experience fighting crime"

"Making Black Bat the logical choice"

"He declined to be leader when we began this team and he holds many secrets, he is also to young"

"Kadlur you're all young"

"I cannot shift this burden to him, he does not feel he is worthy to lead" black bat had asked them not to bring up the mistrust topic with any of the league members "Not yet, it appears I must withdraw my resignation"

/Kid Flash/

Black canary had an odd look on her face as she watched Wally eat popcorn while sitting upside down on the chair across from her "So you want me to believe that after everything you went through, including your own death from the disintegration beam…you're peachy"

"I'm uh…fairly certain I'd never use the word peachy..but I think you got the gist" He said while eating the popcorn through munches

"So you really have no interest in confronting your extreme reaction to artemis's death"

Wally began choking on the popcorn while sitting up in the right position "I'd rather talk about you babe"

"Wally you're in denial"

"I'm comfortable with that"

"Then what about leaving black bat to his death in the mother ship when you could only save zatanna you didn't feel anything from leaving a friend behind?" most of the league members wanted to know this since it might have something to do with the tears that were on zatanna's face after he had died

"I could only take one of them I'm not as trained as Flash to vibrate multiple people through walls I had only ever done it with one other person after I mastered that. And even if I could save both of them I knew he wouldn't have taken the risk of all of us dying if I couldn't do it"

"Outside the simulation we saw that Zatanna was crying….did anything particular happen after you escaped the ship?"

"She hasn't told anyone? Well m'gann was the one to tell all of us so I doubt she would want anyone else to know"

Dinak lifted an eyebrow motioning for him to continue

"Zatanna has a crush on Black bat"

He eyes widened "They've barely met"

"Don't worry not even black bat knows if he did I'm sure he would have rejected or accepted her by now"

/Zatanna/

Black canary knew not to confront Zatanna with the love interest topic right away, none of the team had even seen him since the day of the simulation a few days ago so they didn't know if he had recovered yet or not

"I was one of the last survivors of the team all because I had the protection of the others I couldn't defend myself so ended up having the others die before me"

"You are a beginner Zatanna you can't expect to know how to fight and know powerful spell right from the start"

"I just felt so useless during the simulation everyone else had to fight for me I felt I was just holding them back, if it hadn't been for me Wally could have saved black bat from dying in the explosion"

"I'm sure no one blamed you for that, a fighter with as much experience as black bat knows to put others before him so he knew he had to save you instead of himself"

Zatanna remained silent so she continued

"Even if you weren't there they both would have died anyway from the second mother ship beams, so it still would have ended the same"

"How do you feel about the plan he came up with to send superboy as a distraction so that you may enter the mother ship without being noticed"

She perked up she hadn't really thought about that little detail but she was sure he would have had a good explanation if he had been given the time too "He must have had a good reason too, a true hero like him would never sent a teammate to their death for cruelty it was to make sure we didn't die before we could blow up the mother ship"

Dinah sighed that she was defending him so adamantly, seems what wally said was true, zatara would not be pleased with this information

oOo

"SHE WHAT!" Zatara yelled

A few hours after Black Canary's session with Zatanna was over she had called both of the adult bats and Zatara to talk about her finding on zatanna's love life. Both bats were quite surprised too having their eyes wide open

"No my daughter would never do something like this"

Selina was shocked dick had never shown any affection for any of the girls in his life, even with Barbra, Julie, or Bette they were just regular friends to him along with the girls on the team but she never knew if someone actually liked her son

"I'm only telling you what I found out, apparently she's liked him even before she actually met him and meeting him only heightened her crush" Dinah was as surprised as them but she could kind of see it from zatanna's point of view

A young girl meeting her male role model who is just a few months older than her, He is just about her height and looked so good together, he's muscular and very cute but from Zatanna she would probably use another word to describe his appearance

"You can't blame this on my son, like canary said he doesn't even know" Bruce argued

"Then tell him to stay away from my daughter"

"You can't do that! They're both on the same team and they have to go on missions together" Selina yelled

"Then one of them had to be kicked off the team"

"Aren't you even grateful he saved her in the simulation?"

"It was his duty as an upholder of justice to protect life including Zatanna, he did not mean it to save her because he cared"

"How is black bat at the moment?" Black canary decided to change the topic to try and see if he would be coming back any time soon

"Since when do you care?" Selina narrowed her eyes

She sighed "Look I know this feud has been going on for years—"

"5"

"Yes five years, but some of the league members are beginning to lighten up on him because of his actions in the simulation, most of us though he would have tried to save himself rather than the earth but that was proven otherwise"

Both Bat's looked to each other then sighed "He's been….going on overdrive with his responsibilities at home"

"He hasn't really talked to anyone the past few days and keeping himself occupied by training and doing extra work for school"

"I've tried talking to him but all he says to be is that he's fine and not to worry about him"

"Maybe I should try talking to him like I did with the other members of the team he might not want to admit something to you that could damage your relationship" Dinah offered she did think it was strange for dick not to confide in at least Selina they had been a very close family since he was rescued and he would tell them any problems but now….why not

"Good and tell him to stay away from Zatanna"

"So you want me to tell him about his secret admirer and tell him he's not allowed to see her"

"Yes!" Zatara huffed and left the room

"Are you sure talking to him will be a good idea for you? You haven't really trusted him up until this point"

"Well I'm ready to try and rebuild it"

oOo

Dick was working on a school report on his laptop for novel he had just finished reading in two days when there was a knock on his door "Yes?"

He turned to see Selina walk in with Dinah lance and was shocked, he looked to his mother looking for an explanation

"Dick, Dinah's willing to begin accepting you a suitable hero and has offered to help talk to you about the experience you had in the simulation"

Dinah saw he was initially shocked at first but then became a bit depressed, while Selina was talking to him a bit more about the session she looked around his room since she had only ever been to the batcave of Wayne manor and this was a mansion fit for a multi-billionaire family. She looked to the apple laptop he had been typing away on while laying on his couch and saw he had types about 10 pages full pages on a school report in about an hour

She also saw his hair wasn't gelled back like it usually was in his civilian personal but figured he had just gotten out of the shower since it was slightly wet and one of his long bangs was covering his right eye like when he was black bat under the hood

"So I'll leave you to talk" Selina finished talking to dick and left the room closing the door behind her

Dick sighed sitting up on the couch "You don't have to do this canary"

"I want to do it, it's not good for a person to over work themselves like this" Dinah sat down on one of the arm chairs on each side of the coffee table while he set the laptop down on the table

"I'm fine"

"Yes I heard that is what you have been telling Selina and Bruce but they can see past your….charade….you're not acting like your normal self"

Dick remained quite he had never had a counseling session except with Ms. Rossi back when he was in the juvenile detention center and that was a long time ago so he could barely remember. He had been used to talking with his parents whenever he had problems but not this time

"Why don't we start with why you are acting like this? Most of the others have begun healing from the ordeal"

"Nothing is wrong I've just been faulting my responsibilities in school with the team work"

"You've been able to maintain your straight A honor student status, and attending the mathlete and academic decathlon competitions, and have been able to spend time with your friends here in gotham so that can't be the reason"

He ran a hand through his hair sighing

"Why don't we start with the feelings you were having when kid flash left with Zatanna in the mother ship and you died in the explosion" she noticed he slightly twitched and knew that was where the problem was "We thought you would be the fastest to recover from this, you have had traumatic experiences in the past and close call dying sometimes so why is this any different?"

He looked away, he had been able to recover from all that because he had the comfort of his mother and father to help make him forget the terrible feelings he had had with the talons but this time he wasn't sad in the least he was going to die

"Did you in any way wish that you had wanted Wally to take you instead of Zatanna?"

"No"

She was a little taken aback maybe he felt the same way about Zatanna and out of his love he saved her by paying with it with his own life, she thought that was a bit romantic he would do something like that for a girl

"Did you do that for them to live instead of you"

"That was one of the reasons"

She lifted an eyebrow so there was another motive but why would he stay behind, was he some sort of dare devil wanting to take the risk of dying and finding a way to survive through it "Does this other motive have anything to do with your behavior?"

He nodded slowly looking down to the carpet floor "I didn't want to say anything because I was afraid it would change the relationship in my family"

"Bruce and Selina have never once changed their opinion about you even during your time with the court they searched for you nonstop and brought you into their family so I doubt something like this will change the relationship you've built up all these years"

"I wasn't terrified in the least about dying in that mother ship" he admitted making her lift an eyebrow "I was actually happy I was going to die" he kept his head down to not see her face

She was shocked by this

"I'm not suicidal it impossible even if I was"

She was silent for a moment then continued "Why were you happy?"

"Because I believed the simulation was real I didn't think I had anything left to live for, both my parents were dead, the entire population of earth was being wiped out, so what was the point"

She could kind of see where he was coming from none of the others had thought about what would be left if they had been able to defeat the aliens but he had and saw nothing was left would be left for him so he decided to die and join his family in the afterlife

"I won't tell Bruce or Selina I know that you are not suicidal you just felt that was your only option in the simulation, you're not going to do that in real life"

"Thanks" he felt a load was off his chest now that he had finally admitted to someone about his ordeal in his last moments of the virtual reality

"So will you begin acting normal again?" he nodded "There is something else you should know though I don't think I should be the person to tell you"

He lifted an eyebrow and looked up to her

"Zatara isn't really happy with you at the moment " She knew Zatara was just being an overprotective father and wanted what was best for his daughter

'What did I ever do to him' he frowned "Why?"

"During my counseling sessions with the team I found out some information that got him angry between you and Zatanna"

He was really confused by this nothing had really been going on with him and Zatanna they were just teammates, he hadn't hurt her at all so what could he be so mad about

"Zatanna has a crush on you"

His eyes widened and began blushing "Um…uh" he cleaned out his ears thinking he had heard that wrong "I-I…uh..might have misheard you…" he stuttered

She actually smiled at his reaction he was acting so out of character but this was the first time he was dealing with love so she couldn't really blame him "Zatanna's liked you even before you met "

No he heard that right but why, him of all people, surely she had boys in her civilian life to have as a love interest he was not a suitable boyfriend figure "We've barely even talked"

"Zatara's angry with you about that and wants you to stay away from her"

"She is a teammate of mine but I barely know her so.."

"So you don't like her"

"I-I n-no I mean…." He gripped his head he never though he would have to deal with this emotion " she is a nice person and…"

"Do you find her attractive" she was actually enjoying taunting him now that the session was over

He blushed again "I don't think I'm the suitable person for her and she should find someone better"

"It will be hard to change her mind you know"

He groaned

"Don't you at least want to give it a try?"

"Just as you said Zatara doesn't want me around her too much"

"Never know there might be a way to get around it. This will probably be a real life Romeo and Juliet" she said before leaving and closing the door behind her

He was in no way a Romeo, he had noticed that Zatanna was really friendly with him but though that was just in her nature but began realizing she didn't act like that to any other boys on the team. Zatanna was an attractive girl but knew he could never be in a relationship without revealing he was once an assassin and was sure that would ruin an romantic relationship he had

That was the reason why he never bothered with having a relationship, most of the girls he knew at school were dating and he did have fanclubs but knew they didn't like him for him just for his status looking for an easy life with no work

Zatanna had no back ground information on him what so ever so why would she even like him she certainly deserved someone better than him she would want someone who could support her, grow old with, raise her children with, and love her

He blushed at one of the topics he had listed; he doubted he was even capable of having kids anymore

"Oh well" he sighed sliding down his couch

_To be continued_


	30. The Birds and the Bees

The birds and the Bees

Dick had just got home from school when his parents called him into their main living area and sat down on the long couch in front of them

"I shall take my leave sir's and Miss" Alfred called as he left the room

"Am I in trouble?" he asked

"Of course not, we just wanted to have a talk with you" Selina assured him

"About…."

"Black Canary has informed us about something in your therapy session that we need to expand on"

Dick's eyes widened, Dinah said she wouldn't tell about his suicidal thoughts during the simulation but she lied to him, now they were going to start treating him different. "I don't have any metal problems"

"Why would you?"

He lifted an eyebrow looking to them "What exactly did Dinah say?"

"She told us that you know about Zatanna's feelings for you"

"Yes but what do we have to talk about, I think that the crush will pass if I give her enough time"

"Dick, a girl's feelings don't change that easily you know." Selina set a hand on his shoulder "Even if you tell her you're not interested she may try to change your mind"

He sighed "You know my situation mom. if I did date her and she found about the court then any relationship I have will be ruined"

"We know dick but this brought up a topic that we have never bothered to talk about and I doubt you've had this talk with anyone else before"

He lifted an eye brow what could they want to talk about that had to do with him dating girls, he thought about it and then it hit him so his eyes widened "Um…you-you're not going to say what I think you are, are you?"

"Every child has to have 'The Talk' sooner or later dick might as well get it over with"

He began blushing "You can't be serious"

"We're very serious or did the Grayson's or William already talk to you about this?"

He began turning pale now, he had only been with the Grayson's up until six, and with William until he was nine he would have been too young to have the talk so it would have just been plain awkward

Selina frowned when he started becoming pale like he had been hiding something "What's wrong?..Don't tell me that you've already lost your virg—"

Now he looked horrified "What! NO! I'm only 13 for Christ's sake" he calmed down

"Just wanted to make sure don't have a heart attack"

"Look I doubt I'll ever even have a serious relationship where I'll need to know about this so can you just give me a book or something and I'll read it like everything else I learn"

"A book can't tell you everything about life" Bruce crossed his arms

"Well how did you two feel when you had your 'Talks"

They thought about it for a minute, Bruce's parents had died when he was eight so Alfred was the one to give him the talk and it had been very disturbing, Selina's parents had died at a very young age too so she had her talk from her caretaker

"We didn't like it any more than you will but like I said every child has to go through this"

He groaned "Let's just get this over with"

"For starters we need to talk about the changes a boy or girl goes through during their teenage years" Bruce began

"In a few more years since you're a boy your voice will begin to get deeper, your will also have a growth spurt so you'll get taller, then you'll begin growing facial hair, and you'll probably begin sweating more so you're going to have to shower more often and were deodorant"

Dick wasn't too embarrassed by this because it didn't really have anything to do with anything sexual and he didn't really know too much about puberty

"Boy's usually start puberty around 14 years old so you have one more year to go" Bruce told him

"But you also need to know about a girl's changes if you do ever have a relationship with Zatanna or any other girl" Selina crossed her arms

'And so it begins' he moaned

"Girl's also have growth spurts just like boys do, but a girl's chest will also expand"

He blushed looking away trying to keep those images out of his mind about a woman's chest

"Their hips will also widen but I think that's all you need to know until you start becoming intimate with a girl"

"Good, so can I go now" he began getting up but Bruce put a hand on his shoulder and set him back down on the couch

"Not quite, you still need to learn how you came into this world"

He groaned gripping his hair and making some of the gel loosen so made his hair a little messy

"You need to be very responsible when it comes to being intimate with a girl dick, you should only ever have sex with a girl that you are truly in love with for one thing, and you should only do it when you've become very serious about your relationship"

"You also have to have protection during sex"

He hated that they were using that word to say it, can't they just say intercourse or intimate, it wasn't like he was actually going to do this anytime soon even if he got in a relationship

"If you don't use protection then there is a huge possibility that you may get the girl pregnant and end up becoming the father of a child so you will have to support them and help them grow up"

Bruce knew that dick didn't think he could have children because of the electrum but he knew it was time to tell him about the test he had performed on his DNA "You are capable of reproducing dick, having children doesn't really take your blood to do it"

Dick frowned, well no one had ever went into such detail about reproduction to him

"But you would want to wait until you are married and have a good paying job to have a child so that you and your wife can be financially stable"

They went on to talk more in detail about how a woman could become pregnant, and what happened during the 9 months she is pregnant, and the responsibilities he would have to take care of his child and so on

When it was finally over dick felt that he had been emotionally scarred for life

"You will be responsible for any actions you may make in the future, we will support you in any way we can but not the entire situations you are put into with relationships you have alright" Selina finished

"Y-yes…..t-thank you for that…information" he was still blushing thinking about everything they had told him in the past….HOUR!

"Good, now you need to make sure that you and Zatanna are absolutely safe when you—"

"Whoa! Wait I'm not even in a relationship why would I need to be careful about anything"

"Just if you decide to do anything stupid"

"I have a lot of other things to worry about than relationships"

"You never know dick you may start to see Zatanna in a new light after this"

He blushed thinking about Zatanna smiling at him; he shook his head "I have homework to do so I'll be up in my room"

"Alright but we have to go out on patrol later"

"Ok"

oOo

"Really?" Dinah almost laughed when she got the call from Selina telling her about the talk they had just had with dick about the birds and the bees "How did he take it?"

"_He was blushing the entire time; I actually accused him of already losing his virginity at first"_

"What! He's only 13 right?"

"_Yes I know I just thought he might be hiding something since he began turning pale when we asked if he had ever had this talk before"_

"Well I can see where you're coming from then"

"_Thank you, has Zatanna had her talk yet?"_

"I don't think Zatara will feel very comfortable about talking about that with a girl but she had to get it over with too"

"_She's going to come out the same way dick did I bet"_

"We'll just have to wait and see"

oOo

"Dad please don't tell me you're giving me the talk?" Zatanna blushed

"You are at the age where you need to be informed of these things Zatanna"

"Yes but I don't plan on getting that serious about any relationship I'm going to have with a boy in the future" she thought back to black bat, how he had sacrificed himself for her in the simulation and how heroic he was

"Zatanna!" she was shocked out of her daydream by her father

"Huh, what?!"

He sighed, he knew just what or rather who she was thinking about "I think you just proved to me how badly you need this information"

"But—"

"Are there any boys in particular that you plan on dating?" he wanted to see if she would confess

"Are we really going to talk about boys?"

"Yes"

Zatanna didn't want to say anything but she had already suspected the team knew about her crush on their now second youngest teammate, but if black bat knew than he did a good job of hiding it "I do like someone but he doesn't seem to be interested anyway" he treated her like any other girl he had come in contact with so she knew she had to try harder "But I'm sure he'll like me once we start to get to know each other more"

"Who is this boy?"

"I'm not going to give him away you'll just try to bully him away"

"Zatanna I only have your best interest at heart I just want to make sure this boy is good for you"

"He is Black Bat is a hero, he would never hurt me"

He groaned so it was finally come out of her mouth that she liked the ex-assassin who could rebel at any moment "Zatanna you don't know anything personal about black bat how do you know he wouldn't hurt you if he became angry"

"I know he wouldn't, he may not be very social but I think he's just lonely and needs someone to help him bring out a smile, he has smiled once in costume"

"How do you know"

"From this newspaper clipping" she brought out a scrapbook she had made, the cover had Black bat's name on it and from the flipped pages he could see Photoshop pictures of him with hearts around it, or him in a tuxedo, or with roses. She finally came to a newspaper clipping with black bat smiling after the defeat of riddler

"Zatanna why do you have this?"

"Just to memoir him, he is the first protégé in history" like he hadn't seen the ones where she was in the pictures with him

He shook his head "Back to the matter at hand you do need to know about this information Zatanna"

"Once I start dating him I know to wait until we're married to actually do anything intimate dad"

"I'm not sure Batman or Batwoman will let him be in a relationship with his hero identity he may very well have a relationship with a girl in his civilian life for all you know" he knew that dick didn't but he could try and make his daughter move on

"No I don't think so he would have at least told me by now"

"Why?"

"He just would ok"

"Fine" he clearly wasn't getting anywhere with his stubborn daughter he just had to hope that dick would reject her

_To be continued_

**I wanted to do a few chapters where dick and zatanna's relationship improves so during misplaced he could comfort her somehow when Zatara becomes Dr. Fate.**

**I did want to do a side story where the Grayson's come from another dimension without the Court of Owls, but I can't decided if it should just be dick who comes or the entire family because I plan on the team having to go to their dimension because the portal let some villains that they have to stop and bring back**


	31. SIDE STORY

Side story

"Do you need any help Black Bat?" Zatanna asked while watching him patch up the finally finished meca-suit

"No I'm just about finished" he told her

Somehow Zatanna had managed to convince him into letting her spend more time with him thought he suspected she put a spell on him to make him more nice in his hero personal, she had been hanging around him for a few days now whenever he came to the mountain and he had begun lighting up to her

"Shouldn't you be heading home it's late" he turned to her while looking at his watch to see it was already 10 pm

"Oh right, what are we doing tomorrow though?"

"I'm not going to be here I have something I need to do in my secret ID" he had an academic decathlon competition in New York to attend to

"When will you be back then?" she hoped at least a few hours later

"Perhaps a few days it may take a while" These competitions usually took about three days to get there, the competition, hotel, and flight back.

"Well I guess I'll just have to see you when you get back then" Zatanna waved as she left

He sighed, he had no idea what she saw it him that had her so love sick "Guess I should be getting back too, got to get up early for my flight to New York"

oOo

Alfred drove him to the airport the next morning, he had already said his goodbye's to his parents before they left the manor, his loyal friend and butler opened the back door and let him out handing him his backpack and suitcase

"Have a safe flight Master Richard"

"I will don't worry" he waved to him as he went to join his teammates Lewis and Casey

"Just in time Richie, we were about to go in" Lewis patted him on the shoulder

"Sorry I'm late then"

"By 2 minutes it's no big deal so come on"

oOo

Selina received a call from dick just before he got on his flight to let her know if they tried to call him and he didn't pick up that would be the reason why. Bruce on the other hand even though he was thankful their son had called them he had just gotten an alert about some unusual radiation coming from a field outside of metropolis

"Isn't that where the competition is"

"No but it is a nearby city"

"Should we send someone to investigate?"

"Superman is busy with his civilian life so that only leaves the team"

oOo

"A few hours ago our sensors indicated an unusual energy signature originating from a field outside of metropolis" Batman had already summoned the team debriefing them on their new mission

"Why doesn't superman handle it, it's his city" Superboy asked

"Superman is busy with other matters, this doesn't seem very dangerous for him to need to handle anyway" Batwoman told him

"You are to g and investigate the area and find the origin of the energy signature"

"And if we do find something?" Kaldur asked

"You are to carefully retrieve it and bring it back the mountain"

They nodded and were about to head out when Zatanna asked if black bat would be back any time soon

"Oh yeah where is he anyway he's usually with you guys" Wally asked

"His flight left early this morning and will be back in a few days" batwoman told them

"Flight?"

"It's for something he had to do for his ID don't worry it's normal" Selina assured them

They nodded again and left toward their Bio-ship; once they were inside and had taken off they began talking about how strange the Bats had been acting

"Well their son is off on a flight to who knows where they're probably just worried about him like any parents would be"

"But who let's their own child go off on a flight by themselves" M'gann asked

"It is normal on some specific occasions" artemis assured her listing about rich kids, competitions, business trips, etc

"Yeah back on Mars by parents because there were so many of us didn't really spend too much time with me but they would whenever they got the chance, and I would help take care of my little siblings, what about you all do you have nice families?"

Artemis froze for a minute but then crossed her arms "Well my dad doesn't really care about me and is never home but my mom supports me and cares about everything I do to make sure I have a good life"

"I have a great family my parents, my aunt and uncle, and my grandparents are always around to help support me, it was funny because I remember one time when me and my uncle Barry had an eating contest and ended up getting stomach aches"

"Never knew that could happen to a speedster" artemis lifted an eyebrow

"Neither did I until then"

"My mom isn't around anymore but my dad Zatara is really overprotective sometime it's kind of a miracle he let me join the team like he did"

"That just shows how caring he is" M'gann told her

"Yeah I know"

"And he might give Black bat his blessing soon" artemis smirked once she began blushing

"I consider my king and queen to be paternal figures for me, I never knew my birth parents very well but they have been good substitutes" Aqualad told them

The team continued to talk about other things and Superboy finally joined in once they were off the family topic since his father superman didn't give him the time of day.

oOo

"Ok looking, looking nothing but dirt, grass, and a few trees. What are we supposed to be looking for again?" Wally asked "And where is here anyway"

"This is a field outside of Metropolis, New York" artemis reminded him

"I'm feeling some strange energy coming from over there" Zatanna pointed further into the field

"Why don't we split up and look around different areas of the field?" conner suggested

"Good idea, be careful we don't know what caused the strange energy signal yet" Kaldur told them

"Got it" Wally saluted him and ran off into the field

He was running around through the dirt and grass looking for anything out of the ordinary 'maybe I should have brought Zatanna with me she can sense where the signal was coming from' he stopped to turn around when a voice called out to him

"Who are you?"

He yelped and turned around to see two boys a little younger than him. He took a moment to look them over seeing they looked like ordinary kids, black hair, blue eyes, dressed in regular clothes "Who are you two?"

"My name is Charlie and this my little cousin Dick Grayson, you know like the flying Grayson's"

"Never heard of you"

They frowned at him

"What are the two of you doing out here in the middle of nowhere anyway?" wally asked

"No idea" dick shrugged "the only thing we remember is preparing for practice for our circus show when all of a sudden this bright light came out of nowhere and poof were in a wasteland"

"I think we were in metropolis before that light appeared" Charlie thought

"Well the good news is you are in metropolis but I think someone would have noticed there being a circus in town" he was sure they would have seen a giant tent or something from the sky

"But what are you doing here, dressed like that?" dick gestured to his uniform

"My team and I are here investigating some weird energy signature or signatures now, we're a group of teenage superheroes"

"Superheroes cool!" dick smiled

"Yeah so you two must have been what caused the alert do you have any idea why you suddenly appeared here?"

"Nope" Charlie shook his head

Wally sighed "Well I guess we're just going to have to figure this all out when we get back to the mountain" _M'gann?'_

"_Did you find something Wally?"_

"_Yeah I did find something, or someone's"_

'_Who? Do you need assistance?" _Kaldur asked

"_No need, it's just two kids, they said they were part of a circus when all of a sudden they wound up in this field. You think that had anything to do with the strange energy?"_

"_Maybe" _Zatanna shrugged

"_We'll regroup at your coordinate's stay where you are" _

"Um…..Mr…" dick waved his hand in front of wally "Are you going to keep acting weird like that?"

"Sorry, my team and I have a psychic link that we use to communicate, and my name is Kid Flash, so they're on their way" they heard a large thump then a huge wave of dust pushed them to the ground "Man Superboy you could land somewhere else when you do that!"

Conner huffed and crossed his arms as the others joined him

"So what did you find wally?" M'gann asked

"Oh right guys these are—"

Artemis's eyes widened when she saw the younger boy "Richard Wayne?"

Dick lifted an eyebrow and turned to his cousin "I think you have me confused with someone else, my name is Dick Grayson and this is my cousin Charlie"

"You know him? Conner asked probably ignoring the boy

"Ye—no..I mean.." she stuttered _I'm friends with him at school, but he can't know I'm the hero archer of the team. Dick is an honors student at school and a little blabber mouth sometimes_

"They said they were circus performers" Wally told them "But during practice they appeared here"

"Do you remember anything that could have caused this?" kaldur asked

"Not a clue, but we need to get home or our parents will be worried sick we were going to change while they prepared the trapeze, it been so long now they must be going crazy—" Charlie panicked

"Does anyone remember there being a circus in metropolis around here?" wally asked

"Not that we were aware of and even if there was a circus traveling around I've never heard about a group with two kids in it" Zatanna said since she was a performer too with her dad in las Vegas

"They may be from a different dimension you know" artemis suggested because she remembered that he friend Richard was supposed to be away on a competition for a while so why would he be out in a field with another boy

"Maybe" M'gann shrugged

"So we're in a dimension without the famous flying Grayson's, or just without Haley's circus?" dick asked

"I'm sure that doesn't really matter, we'll get you home safe and sound" M'gann assured them

"So what's the plan?" wally turned to kaldur

"Batman told us to bring the signature back to the mountain so that is what we will do then we will contact them to inform them of our findings"

"Does that sound ok with you guys?" M'gann asked

"Sure don't think we'll be able to get home on our own anyway"

"Let's go then" Conner said heading back to the bio-ship

oOo

On their way back home, artemis got out her civilian cell phone and began texting Bette to see if she could find out specifically where Richard wayne was

_*Why do you want to know? I'm sure he busy right now*_

_*Just curious*_

_*He went to New York with Lewis and Casey for an academic decathlon competition this morning*_

Artemis was shocked they were just in new York, what if both versions had met and Richard got freaked out seeing a clone of himself or something.

_*ok thanks*_

But there was still something she didn't get about dick, he said his name was dick grayson, but he looked exactly like Richard Wayne, could her version have been born into a different family or somehow he had a twin in the circus somewhere

Richard never talked about his past to his friends, he just said that Bruce and Selina were his parents and he loved them and the life he lived with them. she saw dick was wearing a short sleeved shirt and saw the muscles he had so wondered if her friend had muscles like that too. He never took off his shirt or anything but he did when he had to in gym but she never saw since she didn't have that class with him

Dick and his cousin were really cheerful and talkative from what she could see so far, and even though Richard was too he wasn't too energetic like these two and he very polite like any rich kid had to be

"So you're all superheroes right?" Charlie spoke up knocking her from her thoughts

She also noticed that dick didn't have the accent Richard always spoke with so that was something else that was weird

"Yeah we're each partnered with an adult superhero to fight crime" wally smiled "I'm partnered with my mentor The Flash he has super speed just like me"

"What powers do the rest of you have I mean we've heard about the justice league in our dimension but we've never heard of teenage heroes" dick asked

"I'm Miss Martian and my mentor is my uncle Martian Manhunter"

"I am Aqualad and my mentor is my King Aquaman"

"Superboy doesn't have a mentor yet but I'm Artemis and my mentor is Green Arrow"

"And my name is Zatanna my mentor is my dad Zatara"

"Cool but don't you feel weird being the only person on the team without super powers?" Charlie asked

"We do have another teammate without super powers but he's busy with something else" M'gann told them

"What can he do and who's his mentor?" dick asked

"He's Zatanna's future husband" wally teased making her blush

"His name is Black Bat and he had two mentors, his parents Batman and Batwoman have you heard of any of them?" Artemis asked

"Well I've never heard of Black bat or Batwoman but I have heard of Batman he can be really scary though" dick shivered "But I really idolize superman I even have his pajamas"

Conner frowned at that

"There really aren't any teenage superheroes in you dimension?" aqualad asked

"Not that we know of"

Wally thought about it and Black Bat was the first kid hero in history but they said they had never heard of him or batwoman so maybe batman never met her and he was never born so that caused there never to be teenage heroes

oOo

When they finally landed in the hanger of the mountain dick sprang up from his seat

"Finally I hate sitting around for too long" and ran out the hatch of the bio-ship

"He's way to hyper for his own good" Charlie sighed

"Well that what you have to expect for little kids" M'gann smiled

"I have already informed Batman and Batwoman that we have returned so we should go and meet them in the mission room" Kaldur told them and they nodded but continued to talk on the way

"So what's it like living in a circus?" Artemis asked

"It's awesome we get to travel all around the world it so asterous" dick smiled

"Asterous?" Wally lifted an eyebrow

"Yeah the opposite of disastrous"

The others frowned

"it's something he likes to do" Charlie told them

When they got to the mission room Batman and Batwoman were already there waiting for them to enter, dick hid behind them like he was trying to hide from the heroes

"What did you find?" batman asked

"We retrieved two civilians that seem to be from a different dimension" kadlur gestured to Charlie then exposed dick in behind them

Batwoman's eyes widened when she saw dick and turned to batman "What happened?!" he growled

"Kid flash came across them while he was searching through the fields, they're names are Dick and Charlie Grayson from an alternate dimension"

"Most likely" batwoman huffed

Bruce turned to her "Call Black bat and make sure he's where he is supposed to be" she nodded and left the room then he turned to the two civilians "How did you get here?"

"We don't know" Charlie told him

"We're from a circus called -"

Batman interrupted him "You will stay here until we figure out the reason behind your dimensional travel and then send you back"

"Fine"

oOo

Richard wayne had been in his competition sitting on the left side of Casey while Lewis sat on the other side, he had put his phone on silent in his pocket but made sure to have his com-link in his ear in case of emergencies

"In what year did the French revulsion begin?"

"1785 right?" Casey asked

"No that was for something else it was 1789" lewis told her

She quickly wrote it down and handed it in giving them more points ahead of some other teams that were falling behind

"Who was the author of The Frozen Deep, the play whose situation that of Charles darnay and sydney carton ?"

Dick knew this one "Walkie Collins"

Casey nodded and wrote it down giving them more points

"In what year did the most recent 'spurt' of growth in the field of chemistry begin?"

While they were thinking the com-link in dick's ear began buzzing, he covered it to make sure no one noticed it but it just kept buzzing

"1600 A.D right?" casery asked them and he nodded

The com-link kept buzzing 'Who could be calling me at a time like this?!' for emergencies the com-link had a shock feature and it did just dad after a while making him yelp then cover his mouth from the strange looks "Um may I be excused please"

One of the judges looked at his watch "We will take a five minute break"

He thanked him then ran out to one of the empty waiting areas and coughed before answering his com without his accent "Yes!"

"_Dick are you alright?"_

He lifted an eyebrow his parents knew just where he was and he couldn't be interrupted for very long "I'm fine why wouldn't I be?"

"_Well….the team was sent out on a mission in a field outside of New York because of strange energy readings and I was worried they might have affected you somehow"_

He frowned now he didn't sense anything weird going on around New York "Nothing's wrong I'm perfectly fine"

"_alright that's good…will you be coming to the mountain from a zeta tube in new York by any chance?"_

"Unless I really have to then no"

"_Ok good you can get back to your competition now"_ Selina hung up leaving him a bit confused

Why would she ask if I was going to the mountain? She knew he wouldn't be going without his black bat uniform and that was back in Gotham, New Jersey

"The five minute break is over!"

"Right coming!" switching back to his accent

oOo

"He's ok" Batwoman told batman once she came back to the mission room

"What does this have to do with black bat?" Zatanna asked

"He was in New York on special business so we thought he may have been affected by the radiation so we just wanted to make sure he was alright" Batwoman told her and she nodded

"We need to head back to the cave until then stay put" batman growled and then left with his wife through the zeta-tubes

"He's even scarier up close" dick commented "And he has a son? I'd hate to see what he's like"

"Black bat is really sweet once you get to know him" Zatanna smiled

"So to pass time how would you guys like a tour of the mountain?" M'gann asked

"That would cool" Charlie agreed

During the tour they went around the same places they did as the day they fought Mr. Twister, but this time they also showed the new and improved mechanics room where the updated Meca-batsuit was still standing

"Whoa what is this?" dick looked over the large robotic suit with Charlie

"Make sure not to break anything it took a long time to finish that up" Zatanna warned them, she would hate to see black bat angry if it some somehow damaged

"What is it?" Charlie asked looking at the bat symbol on the chest

"It's a Meca-suit for the Bats. Black bat just finished making it after the old one was destroyed "

Dick frowned "How old is black bat anyway?"

"I think he's 13 almost 14 though"

"Wow I'm 13 too but I can't make something like this"

"Well he's had the training so don't feel bad" Artemis told him

"Yeah I guess so" Charlie shrugged and looked around the rest of the room

"Why don't we head to the hanger now we didn't really look around when we came in" M'gann suggested

"Sure"

When the two circus performers looked at the lower part of the hanger and saw the Jungle gym with the trapeze at the back they smiled "Why don't we give you your own personal show with the trapeze here?" dick offered

"That was set up for Black bat's training he's an acrobat too" wally told them

"Really? Charlie asked

"Yeah" wally nodded "Hey why don't we call him and tell him to join us I'm sure they could give him a few pointers for his acrobatics"

"I don't know he may be busy I don't want to disturb him" Zatanna frowned

"He answered batwoman didn't he so I'm sure he'll answer us" Wally smirked and pressed his com link but he didn't answer "Ok guess we'll have to try some other time"

"Ok let's give these guys a 5 star show Charlie!" dick cheered

The two performers gave their best flips and stunts that they could pull with just two of their members, and for their finale dick got to do their signature quadruple flip from one bar to Charlie's hands, then both of them landed back on one of the platforms and re-joined the team at the bottom

"That was awesome guys, you have my five stars" wally smiled

"You really are professionals" M'gann cheered

"Thank you, what did you think of our finale?" dick asked

"What about it?" artemis frowned

"Weren't you surprised by the quadruple flip our families are the only people in the entire world that can do that" Charlie frowned

"Well yeah it was great but we've seen that a whole bunch of times now by Black Bat" superboy shrugged

Both performers frowned and turned to each other "You don't think…."

"No why would one of us be a hero when we could be with our families in the circus?"

"You never know though"

"He is supposed to be a hero so maybe he had enough training to perform the flip too"

"Yeah that's probably it"

"What do you know about black bat anyway?" Charlie wanted to confirm his suspicions

"Not much, We know he's a professional acrobat, a master hacker, A highly trained fighter, his parents are Batman and Batwoman, and he began his hero business when he was 9" Wally explained

"Nine!" dick blurted out

"Yeah the media went crazy when he first appeared, they first called him Batboy but he announced his name was Black bat" Artemis remembered the newspaper article of the mind controlled bats"

"I hadn't even lost all my baby teeth at that age, and I was still learning the trapeze since my parents thought it might be dangerous if I began too early" dick was dumbfounded

"That just shows how tough he is even at such a young age, he really smart, and he can be very nice when he wants to be, I wish he was here so you could see him" Zatanna thought

"Well they might meet him who knows how long they'll be here"

_To be continued_

**I do plan on dick coming to the mountain to meet his alternate version and his cousin but I'm trying to figure out how since his parents don't want him to go because he might explode. The alternate dick and Charlie are going to find out about the flying grayson's murder and Richard graysons two year disappearance two **


	32. SIDE STORY pt 2

Side Story pt. 2

"Dick you're back early" Selina eyes widened when she saw him come through the front door with his suitcase and backpack

He lifted an eyebrow "It's been two days the competition is already over"

"It has?" she looked around for a calendar "Oh well how was the competition?"

"It was fine we got in first place and the award is being taken to Gotham academy" he shrugged

"Well you should go and unpack while I tell Bruce your home" he nodded and left up the stairs while she went back down to the bat cave where Bruce was looking over any strange anomalies in the metropolis area that could have brought the two Grayson's to their dimension

"Bruce we have a problem"

"What is it?" he asked without turning around

"Dick is back he just went upstairs to unpack his things"

His eyes widened, this was a problem because dick would go to the mountain to see Zatanna but he would also see his alternate version and his cousin there "He's supposed to be in New York"

"I guess we lost track of time going over the dimension rift because it's already been two days"

"We need to keep him from going to the mountain"

"And how will we do that?" dick had been getting more friendly with his secret admirer and she would most likely call to tell him to come see her

"He can go and spend time with his friends in the city until we find a way to send them back"

"Send who back?" they heard and looked over to see dick had joined them

"Nothing important don't worry but how about you call up your friends and go out to the city to spend time with them like you usually do"

"Well I did get them some souvenirs while I was in NY so I might as well give it to them" he thought to himself out loud

"Good you can get going then and have fun!" Selina ushered him

"You're a wonderful actress" bruce sighed once he was gone

oOo

"There's something we still haven't found out" Charlie spoke up while they were hanging out in the living/kitchen area

"What do you want know?" M'gann asked

"Where are the Flying Graysons in this dimension?"

Dick eyes widened "That is a good question, none of you have ever heard of them?" he looked around at all of them but they all shook their heads so looked to artemis "you called me by that other name so you must know me in this dimension somehow right?"

The others turned to her waiting for an answer and she seemed uncomfortable "Well I don't know if you're the same people because your nothing alike you just look alike"

"There are some people who look similar but aren't the same people" wally shrugged

"Maybe we can look up the flying Grayson's or Haley's circus and see where they're performing" M'gann suggested

"Yeah where's your computer?" Charlie asked

"Anywhere you want it to be" Zatanna smiled and waved her hand and the keyboard appeared "So what do you want me to look up?"

"Type in The Flying Graysons they should be famous" dick asked and she did so she did so

But what they did not expect was to find a Newspaper article with the headline: **The Deaths of The Flying Grayson's** with a picture of them below the headline

"They're dead!" Charlie yelled

"How can we be dead here!" dick yelled

The others were surprised too but not as much as the boys were, they read over the article on the screen to see if they truly were dead

"Yeah they died over 8 years ago" Conner read

"I can't believe this" dick gripped his hair

"How did they die?" Charlie asked

"It says a mobster by the name of Tony Zucco supposedly sabotaged the wires for the trapeze and because they performed without a net when the wires got lose they died from the fall" Kadlur read over the cause of death

"Wait look at the bottom headline here….." Wally pointed to the smaller headline at the bottom of the newspaper: **The Sole Survivor **"One of you survived" he read over to get a name and see which one "Richard Grayson"

"Me!" dick smiled that his counterpart was still alive "So that might be the reason you recognized me because you knew him" he looked to artemis

"What happened to him?" Charlie asked wanting to know what his alternate cousin did after their families had died "After they died I mean…"

"He was taken to the Juvenile Detention Center" Kaldur read over the next article on Richard grayson

"What! What did he do?!" dick yelled

"Nothing, apparently his social worker was a racist and put him there"

"While he was there he had been to the infirmary a few times from injuries he got, most likely from the other inmates who were there"

"Man I don't even know how to fight, so he couldn't have been able to defend himself" dick looked down at himself

Zatanna looked for more articles on Richard Grayson in that year and brought up an article about his disappearance shortly after he arrived at Juvie.

"Man how messed up is this kid?" Wally asked

"Hey!" dick glared

Artemis was shocked by what she found out in these articles though, so her friend Richard Wayne wasn't Bruce and Selina's biological child, he was from a circus, he had gone to jail, he had been kidnapped from said jail, but he didn't act like any of that happened at all when she was hanging out with him.

"Sometime around midnight some people broke into the detention center and kidnapped Richard then left but they killed some people in the process and destroyed a part of the center" Conner looked over the article

"Why would someone break into a jail just to kidnap one kid?" wally asked

"No idea" M'gann shrugged

"What happened after that?" Charlie asked

Zatanna looked for anymore articles but found nothing in that year "There's nothing more about him during that year"

"So he was never found?" dick's eyes widened coming up with possibilities on where his counterpart could be, if he was alive, who took him

"No If you are the same people then I know he was going to New York two days ago" Artemis assured him

Zatanna looked in the next year for anything but found nothing there either so went on to the next year and finally found something, **Circus Boy Found! **

"Batman and Batwoman found him and brought him back to gotham but he wasn't the same as he was before he was taken"

"That isn't really surprising who knows what he must have gone through" M'gann looked like she wanted to go and give Richard a big hug

"He had scars on his neck, wrists, and ankles from what a doctor could tell like he had been in chains for a while" wally looked sick, who would do something like hat to a child who was only 9 at the time

Artemis frowned she didn't remember seeing any scars on Richard, he did wear short sleeves sometimes but didn't recall seeing any scars on his neck or wrists, maybe he got surgery to remove them or something

"Man" dick shook his head looking at his own wrists "Did the people who kidnapped him ever go to jail?"

"No, he never said who took him or where he was so they couldn't really arrest anyone" Zatanna looked over the article and found that was a bit odd, well he had to have a good reason

"So what happened after he came back, it says he was taken back to the detention center but…." Charlie asked

"He was adopted" Zatanna brought up another article about Bruce and Selina Wayne adopting him

'So it is him' artemis concluded, she never knew that Richard had gone through so much in his childhood he never acted troubled, he acted like a normal rich kid but now knew he was really a circus performer or used to be

"He's a Multi-Billionaire heir?" charlie's eyes widened

"Wow" dick's eyes widened too, so his counterpart did end up happy in the end "With that money he could have gotten a private investigator to track down Tony Zucco and send him to jail for what he did to his family"

"Yeah!" Charlie smiled

"I don't think so" Zatanna frowned

"What?" dick frowned

She brought up another article that would cause them to be shocked by Richard wayne's decision. **Richard set's Zucco free **

"Why would he do that!" dick yelled

Artemis eyes widened, her friend let his biological families killer go free, she recalled that he always called Bruce dad and Selina mom so did he replace them because he had such a better life now so he didn't need them to ruin his fame

"It says he didn't see the point of testifying against zucco" Conner read

"To get justice for his family is a good reason!" Charlie growled his opinion on his alternate cousin hat completely changed from what it was a few minutes ago

"It says he forgave Zucco but didn't want to face him in court"

"How could he forgive him for murdering his family! Doesn't he care!" dick gritted

The others seemed worried about the two they did see where they were coming from and were a little angry too but Richard had to have an explanation for what he did

"Where was his family buried please tell me he at least goes there to visit them" Charlie asked

Zatanna looked for any articles of Richard going to the cemetery to visit his family but couldn't find any, the only time he ever did visit a cemetery was with his adoptive parents in the Wayne Cemetery by the mansion to visit his adoptive grandparents Thomas and Martha Wayne

"Oh come on! How cruel can he get" dick gritted was his counterpart teasing his parents that he loves his new family more than they ever loved him

oOo

"ACHOO!" dick sneezed

"You catching a cold?" Barbra asked

"No, I have no idea where that came from" dick frowned rubbing his nose

"Maybe someone's talking about you" Kevin nudged him

"Yeah sure, where are we going anyway?"

Julie was about to speak when Kevin covered her mouth "And no shopping!" she rolled her eyes and removed his hand from her mouth

"I was going to say why don't we go bowling we haven't done that in a while"

"Sure it's about time we did something that can relate to boys right man!" Kevin nudged him in the shoulder

"It's good with me" he smiled

"Ok let's get going" Barbra agreed

oOo

"Where is he I want to give him a piece of my mind!" Charlie yelled getting up from the couch

"Easy there! Seeing Richard won't be easy he's a celebrity so you can't just walk up to him and start harassing him" Artemis stopped him, she still thought Richard deserved a chance to explain

"And besides that won't it freak him out if a clone of him and his dead cousin came up to him and started yelling at him" Wally added

"You're friends with him aren't you? Then bring him someplace we can talk" dick looked to artemis

"He is my friend but he can't know about my secret identity"

"Then call him so we can talk to him over the phone at least" dick ushered

"I doubt he'd pick up he's usually really busy"

On the screen all the newspaper articles were replaced with magazine covers and videos of interviews of Richard Wayne, he seemed to be enjoying his life as a rich kid from what Charlie could tell. He was glaring at the pictures; dick was obviously using his new money to extent because he had on a Rolex watch, designer clothes, the latest shoes in fashion, male jewelry that was obviously real

"Glaring at the screen won't make you hate him any less" Zatanna looked to him

"Maybe you should call him Artemis because maybe if by some chance were wrong and that not him we can know by the voice" wally suggested

"We look exactly alike!" dick pointed to himself and his counterpart on the screen

"Maybe he has a twin you never know?" conner shrugged

"Alright but no one say anything I need to make him think I'm at home" artemis sighed and brought out her phone looking through her contacts and calling Richard

oOo

"Strike!" dick cheered once his bowling ball knocked over the all the pins

"That 3 to 1" Kevin smirked at the girls

"Oh it won't be for long "Julie huffed and got up for her turn

Dick sat back down getting a French fry from their food when his phone began ringing

"Who could be calling you right now?" Barbra asked but he shrugged while chewing on the fry and getting out his phone from his pocket

He lifted an eyebrow when he saw it was Artemis "Hello?"

"_Hey Dick how are you?"_

"Hey artemis I'm at the bowling alley with some friends and you?"

"_I'm at home just watching some TV"_

"So why did you call is there something you need?" He asked because he knew Artemis was supposed to be at the mountain with the others

"_Nothing really. How was the competition in New York?" _

"_HE WAS IN NE-!" _

Dick frowned, he heard a boy's voice yelling but it sounded like someone put a hand over their mouth "Um who was that?"

"_No one! Nothing! So you were saying?" _

"Well the competition went well, lewis got us the extra points we needed to win first place"

"_Really congratulations!" _

"Thanks, so how have you been Artemis?" the last time he had seen her was when she was bickering with Wally again at the mountain three days ago

"_WHY WOULD YOU CARE YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT YOURS—"_

Ok this was getting weird now another boy was yelling at him over the phone before they were quieted too "Artemis do you want to call me back some other time because it sounds like you're busy"

"_Sorry about that just these two boys throwing a tantrum over here"_ Artemis sounded wary

Dick frowned that didn't sound like kaldur, Wally, or Conner "It ok don't worry" he assured her but he was getting suspicious because those voices sounded offly familiar

"Hey dick it's your turn again!" Kevin called over to him

"Um artemis can you hold, It's my turn to play" dick said into the phone

"_Sure I need to tell these boys something anyway"_

oOo

"Are you two out of your minds!" artemis gritted

Wally had put his hand over dick's mouth and Conner did the same with Charlie

"What we needed to get to the point of that converstation anyway!" Charlie huffed

"That sounded exactly like me so there's no mistaking it"

"You can't just bring something like that up on the phone while he's in public no less"

"He said he was at a bowling alley people don't usually watch others conversations in places like that"

"Still!" artemis growled

oOo

"Damn, you need to step up your game a bit man" Kevin saw the girls were catching up with them

Dick rolled his eyes and got the phone back toward his ear "Like you're doing any better than me….I'm back artemis so was there anything else you needed"

"_No not really but…."_ Dick heard some scuffling over the phone like someone was fighting over the phone then the sound of a boy yelling at him so he had to hold the phone a little ways away from his ear

"_Why did you let zucco go and never visited your families graves!" _

Dick eyes widened "What are you-?"

"_You know what We're talking about after you left the detention center why did you let zucco go and never went to the cemetery to visit your family the graysons!"_

"_And what's with that accent you trying to make yourself look cool or something!"_

Dick was shocked he recognized that voice now but that was impossible, Charlie had been dead for years and either he was crazy or he heard himself over the phone too, but again he heard the sound of scuffling then artemis again

"_Sorry dick I gotta go!" _and she hung up

He was left dumbfounded

"What the heck was that about?" Barbra asked

He was speechless, artemis was supposed to be at the mountain wasn't she, how could anyone have figured out about his past "Guys I need to head home and talk with my parents about something"

"Aw man you're leaving me alone with these two?" Kevin moaned

"Suck it up!" Julie slapped behind the head

Dick smiled they sometimes reminded him of Wally and artemis

oOo

"Are you two insane!" artemis yelled

Dick had taken the phone from her hand and began yelling at his counterpart but when she tried to get it back Charlie took it and yelling at his alternate cousin before the others helped her get the phone back and she hung up

"You didn't let him answer!" dick yelled

"He was probably to shock that you just blurted that out to come up with his explanation! Now I'm going to have to explain that the next time I see him!"

"Why do you even want to see him? After everything you just found out!" Charlie asked

"I think he deserves a chance to explain himself if I ever talked to him about that"

"What's there to explain? That he doesn't care about his family I'm sure if they weren't buried during his kidnapping he would have had them throw away like trash"

"Look why don't you just move on this isn't your dimension what happens here doesn't really concern you" Zatanna told them, she was a bit angry with Richard but she sided with artemis on that

"So all of you are ok with what he did?" Charlie asked

"We cannot pry in the lives of civilians just because of personal problems" kadlur told them

oOo

"Why didn't you tell me?" dick had gone straight down to the bat cave and told them about the phone call from artemis and had heard himself and Charlie over the phone. They told him that while he was in New York Dick Grayson and Charlie Grayson had traveled here from an alternate dimension and were currently at the mountain with the team

"We were afraid that maybe you would revert back to your old self and try to attack them if you went to the mountain" Selina sighed

"They must have been doing their research on me because they were yelling at about how I let zucco go and I've never went to visit the Grayson's at the Gotham cemetery" he crossed his arms "The team most likely don't like my civilian self anymore either"

"I'm sure if they were able to know the truth then they would see why you did those things" bruce assured him

"How much longer are those Grayson's going to be here?"

"We haven't quite figured out how they got here but we do know that these dimensional portals have been appearing in different places, luckily no other people have been sent here" Bruce brought up a map of all the places the portals were opening up

"Maybe there's a focal point to where these portals could be originating from, a villain could be causing this in order to gain something from another dimension" dick suggested

"We would need our own inter-dimensional portal to find out" batwoman thought

"Is such a thing possible, wouldn't sorcery be causing this?" dick asked

"We can ask Zatara but maybe the dimension where the Grayson's came from is where this person wanted to go" Bruce thought

"If you give me the blueprints I can make the inter-dimensional portal device at the lab at the mountain"

"Dick are you sure you want to go there while-" Selina looked worried

"I don't know everything about their dimension, I don't even know if their version of myself was chosen for the court or not, so I won't do anything"

"Alright" Bruce nodded and transferred the blueprint to Black Bat's holographic glove

"Thanks" dick nodded and got changed into his uniform pulling up the hood just as he walked into the zeta-tubes

oOo

_RECOGNIZED: BLACK BAT B-01 _

Zatanna smiled and went to the mission room just as her potential boyfriend appeared "Black Bat you're finally back how was New York!"

"Adequate" he said walking past her toward the mechanics room

"You alright?" she frowned

Before he could answer the rest of them including the Grayson's came to the mission room to greet him

"Dude how was your vacation?" wally asked speeding up to him

"It was not a vacation, it was work"

"Sure but you got to go to one of the most famous cities in the US, you had to enjoy yourself just a little right" black bat just stared at him "Or not"

"Black bat let me introduce you to Dick Grayson and Charlie Grayson they're from a different dimension, we met them on a mission while you were away" M'gann motioned to the two boys

"Hey we've heard a lot about you, so you're the famous Black Bat, the greatest protégé in history right?" dick asked but he didn't answer

"So do you know if Batman has found a way to get us home?" Charlie asked

Black bat was struggling not to lash out at the two boys, when he was with the Grayson's he had to act like a little gentleman and already he could see the difference "Not quite, I have been sent here to build an inter-dimensional portal device to help with your problem"

"Wow you can actually do that? can we watch?" dick asked

"No!" he gritted and turned leaving the room

"You said he was sweet" Charlie lifted an eyebrow to Zatanna

"He seems to be in a bad mood" she shrugged

"Maybe something happened while he was in New York" Conner suggested

"Even in a good mood he's still in a bad mood" Artemis huffed and left the room and the others except Zatanna went with them

She was worried about black bat; he hadn't acted like that at all since she met him even with ivo he did a much better job at hiding his anger. So she headed to the mechanics room to find out why he was so angry

Talking to each other about your feelings was a part of being a couple even if they weren't just yet

In the mechanics room Black bat had already set up a 3D image of the blueprints for the inter-dimensional device they needed to send the boys back and he was already working on making the machine "Black Bat are you alright?" she asked walking up to him

"Fine" he said without looking up to her

"I can tell you're not. You've been in bad mood since you got here and was really rude to dick and Charlie"

"I have my reasons"

"Ok then did anything happen while you were away that has you so mad?"

"Nothing happened"

"Well how about I tell you how the time with dick and Charlie have been these past three days" he didn't answer her to she took that as a yes "When we first met them they said that there are no teenage heroes in there dimension only the justice league for one thing, sine you weren't there we told them about you and you were the first protégé to batman and batwoman

"It's funny because they said they've never head of a Black Bat or a Batwoman in their dimension so do you think it's possible that your parents never met and you were never born there?"

Dick was a little surprised that there wasn't a batwoman, he already knew why there wasn't a black bat since his counterpart was still with the circus but would that have really caused Bruce and Selina not to marry "Perhaps"

"When we brought them back to the mountain they put on a little show for us in the hanger with the trapeze in there, they said their signature move was a quadruple flip, they were kind of shocked that we weren't that impressed but we told them it was because we've seen you do it a whole bunch of times already. Dick said he wasn't allowed to start practicing the trapeze until he was about 8 because his parents thought it would be too dangerous if he began to early"

Black bat accidently drove the screwdriver straight through the piece of metal he was twisting the screw into; he took a deep breath and got up to get another piece

Zatanna frowned but continued "It was kind of weird because when we told them you were able to do the flip, they said their family were the only people in the world that were able to do that. So they thought maybe you were dick from this dimension"

Black bat froze for a second before continuing looking through the drawer for a matching piece, in this dimension he was the only person left that was able to do that so he hoped those two would keep their mouths shut

"But you couldn't be dick right? I mean it was kind of crazy because about an hour ago we did research on the flying Grayson's of this dimension and found out they were all dead except for dick. He's the son of a multi-billionaire family now so why would he need to be a hero too, I'm not trying to insult him saying he couldn't be it would just be a little weird. And Artemis called him on the phone too, he was out with friends and your obviously here so you can't be the same person"

'If only you knew' he finally found another piece and got back to work

"They said they could show you a few moves that could help you improve your acrobatics since their professionals"

"I don't require any training" he already trained his acrobatics to their peak, he had been trained to death for that

"Yeah I know you're already strong enough" she smiled "Do you need any help with anything?"

"No, You can go and join the others"

"How about I get you a drink and we can talk to more" before he could answer that she left the room

oOo

"Mom, dad, aunt karla, and uncle rick have to be really worried about us right?" dick asked Charlie while they were walking down a hall to their room they had been given

"Once we get back we can tell them we were just fine and that we got to meet a whole bunch of heroes"

"And found out my counterpart is such a jerk" dick growled

"Hey isn't Black Bat supposed to be a hero from Gotham?" chalrie asked

"Yeah but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Maybe he can take us to see Richard Wayne, he is their hero so he should have like a VIP pass to see the' prince of Gotham' right?"

"I don't know he seems really mean"

"That's just because he doesn't know us, once he warms up to us I'm sure he'll take us"

"I guess so"

oOo

Black bat was almost surprised that Zatanna got back so quickly that is until he saw the two Grayson's walk in the door "I do not need interruptions"

"I think we just got met on the wrong foot so what do you say we start over?" Charlie asked

"No thanks"

"You know it's not good to be so mad all the time" dick huffed

"Will you two leave" he gritted he was trying his best not to lose his temper because he was sure Zatanna would be back any minute and he did not want her to see him beating up two civilians

"What are you so mad about we haven't done anything to you, even your parents batman and batwoman were mad at us for some reason"

"I have my reasons"

Dick decided to change the subject "The others told us you were an acrobat, you know were acrobats to except were performers in Haley's circus, we have a trapeze act so maybe we can teach you a few moves before we leave"

"I do not need you to teach me anything"

Charlie began getting suspicious of something, the team had told them black bat knew the quadruple flip but now they knew the flying Grayson's were dead so only Richard would know that, he still hadn't gotten a good look at black bat's face either "Do you know anything about Richard Wayne? He's supposed to be really famous in your city but you know he used to be a circus performer who doesn't love his family anymore"

'Why should I love them, they sold me away and never cared for me at all!' he was now clenching his teeth and put his hands in fists

"How can you protect a person like that, we know he went to juvie and was kidnapped for 2 years but he didn't care one bit about his family once he was adopted by that multi-billionaire family, like he was trying to act like he had been a rich kid his entire life" dick added he was still really angry with his counterpart

"You've had to have met him at least once right?" Charlie asked seeing how angered black bat was becoming "Are we insulting your city my insulting their supposed 'Prince' he's nothing but a spoiled snob who got lucky and threw his old family away"

"You don't know anything-" black bat gritted "You don't know a thing about what hell I've gone through so do not insult my family! And accuse me of such things!" he yelled and glared at them getting up from his seat

"So I was right!" Charlie glared

"What are you two talking about?" Dick asked

"We get to meet your counterpart after all dickie, he's right here in front of us" charlei continued to glare at black bat

"What!"

"Both of you get out!" black bat growled

"Oh no you never gave us your explanation on the phone call so you're going to give it to us now! How could you do that to your real family?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you" he growled

"I'm your counterpart but we are nothing alike, you're supposed to be a hero yet you treat your own family like trash, you're a role model to kids all over the earth but we can see the truth now" dick gritted

"I never asked to be a role model; this is just a job to protect lives by my parent's sides"

"And quite calling them that you know they aren't your real parents so why do you keep calling them that!" dick yelled

"Because the Grayson's don't deserve to be called that!" Black bat yelled back in his face "And neither do Karla, Rick, or Charlie!"

"You bastard!" Charlie punched him in the face

"I am doing my best to hold my temper but you are really pushing it!" black bat growled

"What are you going to do beat us up, that's against the hero code"

"Self defense is not" he gritted

"Then tell us the truth why did you throw your real family away!" dick growled "They loved you, they raised you, and cared about you yet you did this to them!"

"I did that because it was all a lie!" black bat yelled shocking them "I don't know if it's the same in your dimension but they're supposed love for me was all an act they never cared about me!"

"And how would you know, I doubt they'd ever come out front and tell you that" Charlie didn't believe that for one second

"Because they sold me away!" they're eyes widened "When I was kidnapped from the juvenile detention center I was taken by a group of assassin to be like one of them, Haley made a contract with them in exchange for funding the circus they had to give them a child and the Grayson's sold me! All they had to do from the moment I was born was making sure I was alive and trained for them! That's why I don't care one bit about them. They can burn in h**l for all I care!"

Charlie and dick were shocked. They didn't know if that was the same in their dimension but they would have noticed if some assassin were lurking around the circus

"Now get out! You have your explanation!"

_To be continued_

**I figured out where I want to go with this story…..sort of…but I might have to bring in jason todd for it when I decide to bring the talons back in **


	33. SIDE STORY pt 3

Side Story pt 3

_RECOGNIZED: BATMAN 02, BATWOMAN 17, ZATARA 11 _

"They must have found a way to get you home" kaldur turned to the two Grayson's who had been oddly quiet. The team went to the mission room to greet them on their arrival. Black bat had also joined them giving them the device he had finished building

Dick sent a worried glance at him but he wasn't even looking at them after the fight they had. After the fight they didn't want to anger him any further because he was said to be dangerous when angered this far but he had calmed down a bit from the looks of it. Both dick and Charlie were surprised by his explanation

They really hadn't given him any sympathy because they assumed that his circus and Grayson's in this dimension were the same as in their dimension, but that would be a good reason and it seemed reasonable to the kidnapping from juvie. Dick wondered how black bat must have felt when he found out his parents never loved him he would be crushed to realize it was all an act and began questioning if it really was the same in their dimension, was he going to be taken and trained to be an assassin too, he was kind of scared to go back now

Charlie assured him that it wasn't the same because their families did show kindness to them and always spent time with them other than training but dick was still suspicious

"There have been multiple dimensional portals appearing all over the earth since you two arrived, from further analysis we have deduced a group of villains have been trying to cross dimensions for some unknown purpose" Batman stated

"The Injustice League again?" Wally asked

"Unlikely the members are all currently locked up in Belle Reve" Batwoman told him

"So does this mean these bad guys are in our dimension now?" Charlie's eyes widened

"I'm sure the justice league there is handling it" Zatara assured them

"And if they're not I mean they can be off world for all you know" dick added

"You want us to go to your dimension and take them down?" Artemis asked

"You're supposed to be superheroes isn't this your job?"

The team turned to the justice league members to see what they thought, "You will go only to assess the situation, do not intervene unless it is absolutely necessary" batman stated

"Thank you batman" dick thanked

"You will need to take this with you in order to get back" batwoman handed the device back to black bat, he looked at it and frowned back at her "You need to help the team bring these villains back"

Black bat had been reluctant to go because he knew he would see the Grayson's there, but knew he could just ignore them to get his job done. He sighed and took the device

"I will open the portal to the correct dimension and to the circus" Zatara stepped up reciting a spell and a few seconds later a portal appeared near one of the cave walls

"Let's go" kadlur ordered before stepping into the portal and everyone followed him through it

~oOo~

When they stepped out of the portal they were met with a few police cars and some detectives talking to some of the performers and workers. Black bat narrowed his eyes, did they call the police to report dick and Charlie missing, it had only been three days at the most but he guessed in this dimension they actually did give a d**n about their children

"MOM!" Charlie yelled

The team turned to see dick and Charlie going over to two couples who were talking to some police officers, black bat immediately recognized them as John, Mary, Rick, and Karla

"Dickie" Mary cried and hugged her son when he came up to her

"Dick, Charlie you're alright!" John smiled

"We were so worried about you two you didn't come back from changing and we searched all over for you!" Karla cried

"We called the police but they said we had to wait 24 hours before we could report you missing" Rick added

"Its ok mom we're fine" dick smiled

"We're perfectly healthy" Charlie assured them

"So these are the two boys who were missing?" the police officer asked

"Yes, where were you two?" Mary asked

"That's kind of a long story" dick rubbed the back of his head

"Well you can explain that to your parents and we can call off the search" the police officer said before calling back all the others

"We were actually transported to a different dimension believe it or not" Charlie began

"What?!" Karla's eyes widened

"How is that possible?" John asked

"We have no idea but we met a whole bunch or superheroes there and they found out that some bad guys were here so some of them came here to take them down" dick explained

"Yeah they're over there" Charlie pointed to the group of teenage heroes who were conversing with each other at the moment

"Wow they look…." Rick tried to find a polite word for weird

"Yeah we haven't seen them fight but they do have cool powers and fighting techniques"

Dick decided to hide the fact that Black Bat was him for right now

oOo

While the Grayson's were reuniting black bat immediately got to business

"So how do we go about finding these villains that crossed over here?" Kid Flash asked

"Perhaps we should look for the same amount of energy that Dick and Charlie caused when they arrived in our dimension" Aqualad suggested

Black bat got out his holographic computer and began searching for unusual energy signals while Zatanna sensed around if anything might be nearby

"Who do you think could have been able to make a portal?" M'gann asked

"Maybe someone like Zatara? Klarion, Wotan etc." Artemis shrugged

"Would we be able to take on someone that powerful?" Zatanna asked

"We could always open another portal and call for backup" Conner suggested

"Batman stated that we are not to intervene unless it is absolutely necessary" Black bat stated

"Did you find anything with unusual energy?" Wally asked

"There is a considerable unusual amount of energy around but they are currently moving to another position at the moment" black bat brought up a map of a strangely colored trail going from metropolis to Gotham

"Why is it always Gotham?" Artemis huffed

"Do you think the joker or Poison Ivy is involved in this?" Kaldur asked

"Perhaps the ones from this dimension" he responded before a hand was placed on his shoulder from behind making a shiver go down his back. 'Keep calm!' he slowly turned to see john Grayson had his hand on his shoulder

"I want to thank you for helping my Son and Nephew get home safely"

"It was no problem" Kaldur smiled

"All in a day's work" Wally crossed his arms

Black bat shook John's hand off his shoulder and moved away from them

"Sorry about that he's not the most social hero we have" Artemis shook her head

"It's alright" john smiled

"So did you guys find out where the bad guys are?" dick asked

"We did find an unusual energy trail going toward Gotham so that's where were planning to go" aqualad explained

"That's very far how do you plan to get there?" Mary asked

"Oh I forgot my Bio-ship" M'gann gasped

"We can just open a portal to get it" Conner assured her

Black bat did that for her and she pulled the oval shaped ship through the portal then made it into its large form opening the hatch behind it.

"Can we come too" Charlie asked, he had never seen heroes fight up close

"It could be really dangerous" M'gann frowned

"Well we can stay in the Bio-ship and watch from inside" Dick offered

The team frowned and turned to Kadlur since he was their leader but he turned to their parents and after a bit more debate they were allowed to go but not without their parents, they made enough room in the ship

Black bat felt like the world was against him did it want him to lose control and kill the Grayson's or what! He just hoped the flight wouldn't be long so he could get out of here

oOo

By some miracle black bat was able to hold his temper the entire flight to Gotham while the others talked about dick and Charlie's stay in their dimension but they didn't reveal anything about Richard Wayne

Gotham looked exactly like it did in their dimension but there was no sight of batman or a batwoman by any chance

"So where to from here bats?" Wally turned to him

He got out his holographic computer and brought up the map again but this time he lowered the range it needed to be they are currently in an underground cave below Gotham.

"Alright guess we're walking from here" artemis got up and the others followed in pursuit

Before black bat could get out of the hatch dick grabbed his wrist, he glared down at the boy "What" he hissed

"Just wanted to wish you good luck"

He scoffed and left

"You know he's not the nice one dick" Mary came to his side

"He just like that because were around" Charlie sighed

"What do we have to do with anything?" john asked

oOo

"That's the place huh?" Kid Flash asked looking down a cave from an abandoned train railroad "So what's the plan?" he turned to kaldur

"We assess the situation first and intervene if need be"

oOo

"So you're saying that was…" Mary's eyes widened as the boys nodded

"But how did he turn out like that shouldn't he be a circus performer like us?" Karla asked

"Well about 8 years ago in their dimension you all died because someone sabotaged the trapeze wires, and he was sent to juvie after that"

"Why would they send a boy to jail with no criminal record?" John eyes widened in horror he couldn't imagine his little boy going to jail when he was only 6 he would have been to weak and vulnerable to survive there

"Yeah but he wasn't there long, he was kidnapped by a group of assassin to become like one of them during the middle of the night" Charlie sighed

"What would assassin want with him. How did he even get involved with such dangerous people?" rick asked

Dick looked up at his mother and fathers "You sold him to them" Their eyes widened and were speechless "He explained to us that the circus made a contract with them, in exchange for funding the circus they had to give them a child and you gave them me. He said you never cared for him at all in his dimension all you had to do was make sure he was alive when they were ready to take him"

"That's why he hates us. He doesn't even call you his parents anymore he called you the graysons. After he was adopted by Bruce and Selina Wayne he started calling them his mom and dad, he told us you all can burn in….you know" Charlie looked up to them

Mary and John were horrified by what they had just learned about their alternate son, how could his parents do that to him, they'd rather die then give their precious baby to a group of killers,

"H-has he ever…..killed..anyone?" Mary stuttered

Artemis did say black bat tried to kill her father so that mean he wasn't hesitant to do it, and he knew how so that could only mean "Yes"

"But he's a hero now with his adopted parents; he saves people instead of killing them now"

Karla and Rick were in shock, dick was Charlie's best friend so they cared for him just as much as their own son, they would never agree to do something like that to him, it was inhuman, they didn't blame black bat for the grudge he had they would hate themselves to for fooling them all those years

"But doing this is dangerous what if he got hurt? What if he got stabbed? Shot? Or died?" Mary was frightened that now she knew another version of her son was going to fight some dangerous people

"He's highly trained I'm sure he's faced stuff like this all the time" Charlie assured her

"He's still just a boy" john agreed with his wife

"Those others were just kids too where are their parents?" karla asked

"No idea all we saw were Batman, Batwoman, and Zatara"

"We need to make sure they're alright" rick opened the hatch like m'gann had shown them

"I'm sure they're fine"

oOo

The graysons remembered seeing the heroes go down the abandoned railroad tracks and went down them to see the scene before them, the heroes were circled around a group of unknown people

"I see the Justice League has managed to find us even in this dimension" one of them said

"You weren't careful about where you were opening up your portals Ra's" kadlur had his water controllers out

"Ah yes our idiot scientist didn't know how to control his little inventions"

"What are would the league of shadows want with crossing dimensions anyway?" Artemis had out one of her arrows

"We're not the type to boast about our plan to copies of the original heroes"

"We did have a plan in case we were interrupted however" Professor Ojo pressed a button on his wrist and all of a sudden all the entrances to the cave were sealed off

The Grayson's we're surprised by the sudden bang behind them and quickly hid behind a large bolder next to them before more fighters come out from different parts of the cave and surrounded to heroes

"We've had enough of kids ruining our plans. Kill them all" Ra's ordered

Mammoth built up his strength and rushed at superboy skidding him across the ground as the fighters began shooting at the other team members, Artemis and Black bat sent their arrows and disk at the soldiers to kick up smoke around them

Kid flash began running around knocking soldiers off their feet and taking some of their weapons

Zatanna said a few spells to make their weapons turn into balloons and when some soldiers tried to attack her Black bat jumped in knocking a weapon out of his hand then punching him in the jaw before sending a kick to another's stomach

But before they could react they were both knocked away after the terror twins jumped down in front of them

"Dick!" Mary cried

Zatanna said a spell to make more copies of Black bat when he was thrown into the wall of the cave, and each of them ran at the twins while the real one got behind them and let out his taser electrocuting them both

Mammoth continued punching Superboy while he was pinned on the ground but he was able to turn the tables around and flip mammoth off him a few feet away. Miss Martian flew over and levitated a few rock at mammoth while superboy used them as a distraction to surprise mammoth punching him in the face and sending him to the ground just as aqualad landed and electrocuted him back to his skinny form

Most of the main villains were already defeated save for Ra's, Talia, and professor ojo but they were still guarded by the soldiers that hadn't been taken out yet.

Black bat threw down some smoke bombs covering most of the area then flipped off the cliff he was on down in the middle of some soldiers punching two of them in the face knocking them to the ground and ducking when another soldier tried to hit him with his weapon

He grabbed the weapon as the soldier was tried to push him back with it glaring at the soldier

John was impressed by the amount of skill his alternate son had being able to fight so well but his eyes widened when another man was approaching dick from behind with an electrocution weapon "Dick behind you!"

Somehow he must have heard him because black bat flipped over the soldier he was glaring at making the soldier behind him electrocute him instead before he flipped back around and knocked him out before going after more soldiers getting out his erisma stick

He used his erisma stick to fight a soldier with a sword knocking it out of his hands before using his erima stick to hit him in the jaw, he turned to see another soldier was coming at him from behind so quickly used his foot to knock him off his feet before using a lasso to tie him up

The soldier he had his with his erima stick got back up behind him and tried to swing his sword at him but he ducked under it and kneed him in the jaw before grabbing his shirt and throwing him to the side and kicking him through a rock pillar

Dick eyes widened, black bat had enough strength to send a man straight through a rock, geez if he was this strong it was a good thing he didn't fight them back when they were arguing or he would have likely ripped them to shreds

Superboy jumped and knocked a few soldiers out my colliding them with each other

"It seems we have underestimated these children father" Talia looked around at their falling soldiers

"Very well we will retreat for now" Ra's nodded to ojo

Professor Ojo let out a laser toward Miss Martian causing a large fire around her before he opened a portal and they escaped through it

Miss Martian was quickly being weakened by the large fire, aqualad made the pond of water at the edge of the cave turn into a massive wave spilling over the fire as superboy jumped in and grabbed M'gann. A soldier sent a ray at aqualad but he created a shield to block it and raised himself into the air with the water before splitting it below him and sending pillars of water at multiple soldiers knocking the rest of them out

The Grayson's we're in shock they had just witness a group of heroes defeat a large number of villains, now Black bat and Zatanna were used their lasso and spells to tie the villains they had managed to defeat up

"Professor Ojo, Ra's and Talia al ghul managed to escape" Black bat commented

"They most likely returned back to our dimension, but once we are there we can report this to the league and they will handle it from there" kaldur concluded

"So you wanna open a portal to get these guys back where they belong?" Wally looked to black bat

He got out the device from his belt and opened a portal and Superboy threw them through it after he did he closed it and put the device back in his belt

"Where did that portal lead to anyway?" Zatanna asked

"Belle Reve"

"You guys were awesome!" dick cheered coming down to them

Their eyes widened and turned to see the Grayson's were in there with them

"When did…..how did…" Wally stuttered

"We decided to follow you and see the show and it was worth it you took all those guys out and sent them right to jail" Charlie cheered

"Even if some of them got away it was still cool" dick smiled

Dick somehow wished he could fight like his alternate self beating up bad guys, saving lives, using cool weapons, but he knew he could never be able to do stuff like that.

"We do that sort of stuff all the time it's nothing special" Artemis shrugged

"We should get you guys back to the circus so we can get going to" M'gann told them

"Yeah but how are we going to get out of here the entrances are sealed off" Charlie frowned

"Superboy can bust through them" M'gann turned to him and he did just as she said punching through the rocks revealing the path they had used to enter

oOo

"I don't think that's a good idea" dick frowned when his parents wanted to talk to black bat

The Bio-ship had just landed on the circus ground and the team was saying their goodbye's to the Grayson's except for black bat who was still in the ship

"I just want to know how the Wayne's a treating him, why would they make him be a crime fighter instead of being just a normal kid?" Mary asked

"I don't think that's any of your business to be honest" dick shrugged "And besides that he hates us even though were not the ones from his dimension, me and Charlie had a fight with him and I bet he's still angry about that"

/Inside/

Black bat was going over some files of belle reve on his holographic computer when he heard footsteps approaching him from behind him but he didn't have to turn around to know who it was 'What is wrong with these people!' he stayed quiet hoping they would leave but that was thrown out the window when they began talking

"Dick told us everything" Mary began

He wasn't stupid he knew dick would have done that "What do you want"

"We're not going to make our alternate versions look innocent because you probably had a lot of evidence against that" john continued

'Lies, Contract, words from Haley himself'

"We know you were adopted by a Multi-Billionaire family, Bruce and Selina, their batman and Batwoman in your dimension too right?" black bat didn't answer though "We just wanted to know why did they make you become a crime fighter like them?"

"They didn't" he finally spoke "I chose to become Black bat in order to redeem myself"

"Oh, Well I know you're skilled enough to fight but….how do they treat you?" Mary asked

"They treat me just like parent would, I go to a private school, and we live in our mansion, and fight criminals"

"How do you like you're civilian life? Dick told us you were a celebrity too"

"Fine, I have friends, I'm on several teams, and go to charity events on occasion with my parents"

It really shouldn't hurt to have a person who looked exactly like her son call someone else their parents but John and Mary could understand why he no longer cared for them in any way, Bruce and Selina Wayne must really care for him just like they cared for their son

"Are you done?"

"Yes it looks like you're team is ready to leave"

"You should leave so we can go back to our dimension then"

"Right" they nodded finally leaving him alone

_To be continued _

**I didn't really know how to end the side story I just know I wanted John and Mary to see Black bat fight and ask him about how Bruce and Selina treat him. Black bat and Zatanna will stay a couple even after she finds out about the court because she'll react just like Bruce and Selina did when he was taken **

**I already know how the team will find out after a fight with the Bats but I'm still debating if I really need to bring Jason Todd into the story**


	34. Misplaced

Misplaced

The Bio-ship landed back in the hanger, Superboy came out with a large crate on his back while Miss Martian levitated two boxes above each of her hands

"Did you get everything?" Batman asked

"Everything on your list batman, plus groceries" She set down one of the box's as wally came up to it

"Cookie vixens?"

"Snicker doodles"

"Babe you rock my world"

The elevator to the hanger opened up letting Artemis and Zatanna out

"So how you liking the team so far?"

"It's been great; you all are really fun to be around"

Zatara said a spell levitating two crates away while Red Tornado formed a small tornado under a much larger crate carrying it away

"But my dad is still being really overprotective about some missions and a certain team member" Zatanna glanced over to see black bat was talking with batwoman while helping carry a few boxes

All of a sudden Batman, Batwoman, Zatara, and Red Tornado vanished making the crates fall to the ground spilling all of the stuff inside

"Dad!" Zatanna yelled

Dick's eyes widened too both of his parents just disappeared before his eyes

oOo

Outside an apartment building in Fawcett city, a woman was sitting on the concrete steps as she watched the two children play on the sidewalk in front of her

"Not in the street please"

A boy watched the scene from the window of his apartment building across the street hearing the news play on the TV behind him

"To day Fawcett City, Captain Marvel defeated an attack by the creatures known as I-back and Sawback"

Uncle Dudley rubbed Billy's head when he suddenly vanished

"Uncle Dudley!" Billy jumped to the front of the couch "Don't know which of my enemies is behind this, but I know a job for Captain Marvel when I see one….Shaz—" he glanced at the TV to see Cat Grant had disappeared too "Whoa looks like uncle D isn't the only one who's gone missing"

"Look out!" a crash came from outside so he ran to the window to see a car had crashed into a lightpole near where the two kids were playing

"Are you ok?"

"Forget me where's mommy?"

Billy stepped back from the window "All the grown-ups are gone and Cap's a grown up if I change I could disappear too"

oOo

Black bat and Zatanna were in the mission room looking over multiple holographic screens while the others went to rescue kids who were all alone

Wally reported _"We've set up a refugee center at the high school gym any luck with—"_

"Negative" black bat cut him off "Contact is unavailable to the Batcave, Hall of Justice, The watchtower, or any adult heroes including Red Arrow"

"_Guess we're on our own, Kid Flash out"_

"Traditional media's offline but kids worldwide are all posting the same thing every adult 18 or older has disappeared. The sorcery necessary to pull this off" she glanced over to him "Scary big"

"We will require you to locate the source"

"How am I supposed to—"

"I pulled this footage" he typed in a few commands pulling up a video "Zatara locating wotan and the Injustice League last month"

She felt flattered that black bat though she had that kind of power "B-but the words, I mean that's only part of it, the rest takes training and….B-Black bat I'm just not at zatara's level"

He turned to face her "I know that it may be difficult but you have to keep a level head. We need your assistance to bring back Zatara, batman, batwoman and the rest"

She smiled nodding

oOo

Superboy heard a baby crying from the inside of a car to ripped off the door, finding a small child and unbuckling him from his car seat

oOo

M'gann and Wally entered the high school gym with another child. Inside artemis was trying to entertain the children by singing twinkle twinkle little star but she didn't know all the lyrics so mixed in words from other songs

The boy in wally's arms handed him his Sippy cup "Aw for me? Thank you"

"Did you call home?" artemis asked

"No answer"

"You could zeta there"

"I've been collecting kids all day, I don't need to see another empty house"

The gym doors opened letting Conner walk in, two boys were in each of his arms and a girl on his shoulders "Got three more"

oOo

Billy ran across a road "Ok batson, make sure the coast is clear….and….go!" he lifted up a board to a fence and slid through running to an old photo booth "Captain Marvel 15" he waited but nothing happed glancing at the zeta camera "Captain Marvel 15…Override HOJ/ Watchtower priority red Captain Marvel 15"

A scanner flashed over Billy- _NOT RECOGNIZED: ACCESS DENIED _

/later/

Billy saw the television broadcast of the team sending out a message to the kids around the world and came up with another plan to get to Mount Justice. "it's up to Billy Batson to find a way to the cave" he climbed over a fence "No matter the risk"

"_Please help in any way you can" _Aqualad finished

"Which is how exactly?"

"That depends" Billy called to the woman inside "Do you have a pilot's license?"

oOo

Wally looked to the Helmet of Fate on his showcase of souvenirs

"I finally got through to Atlantis, no adults there either" aqualad came to join him

"So, just how desperate are we?" both of them glanced at the helmet

"We both know anyone who dones the helmet and allows nabu to possess him may never be released from being Doctor Fate"

"So not that desperate"

"Not yet"

"Guys" they turned to see Zatanna in her uniform "I-I'm ready to try my father's locator spell"

oOo

Black bat brought up a holographic 3D image of earth. Zatanna stepped up to it and resided the spell her father used with a small wand

"Coordinates locked, Roanoke Island"

oOo

"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this" Billy managed to convince her into taking a plane and flying him to happy harbor

"You did the right thing amber I know I don't look like much but I have to get to happy harbor to help"

"We're almost there, should arrive just after midnight. On my birthday"

Billy's eyes widened "Wait. Are you telling me you turn 18 at midni—" amber had already disappeared from the driver's seat "I'll take that as a yes"

/oOo/

"Cookie vixens?"

"Snicker doodles"

"Babe you rock my world"

The elevator opened to the hanger as Zatara said a spell to move some crates with Red Tornado

"So how you liking the team so far?"

"I'm glad your letting Zatanna come to the mountain more often" Batman looked to Zatara

"It was a difficult decision knowing who is also here" Zatara glanced over to dick who was helping move some boxes while talking to Selina

"You know he wouldn't hurt her"

"That's not really what I'm worried about"

Dick carried a small box in his arm filled with mostly groceries

"That does remind me we need to go out for groceries too, Agent A is still away in England"

"Well we can go a little later once we get home"

All of a sudden Miss Martian and Kid Flash disappeared from the side of a box; Superboy disappeared too making the crate he was carrying fall on the hatch spilling everything out.

Dick disappeared next making the box he was carrying fall to the ground too at selina's feet "Dick!" she tried seeing if he was just invisible by waved her hand where he was standing but only met air

Batman and Zatara's eyes widened, Zatara turned just as Zatanna and Artemis disappeared too "Zatanna!"

oOo

A car swerved around the road smashing into a car and making the van behind him smash into the bumper "Dude who taught you how to—"

"My son! My son's gone!" the man inside yelled seeing the empty car seat in the back seat

oOo

"Zatara do you know what's happening?" batman asked

"This must be an act of socercery; the children have most likely been teleported to another location"

"Selina see if you can locate dick with his tracker" Bruce turned to her, she nodded pulling up the holographic computer of the mission room and inputting the commands for the tracker in Black bat's belt

But instead of scanner the earth for him it came up with: _BLACK BAT: UNKNOWN_

"WHAT!" Selina yelled

"It would have come up with a signal if he was on another planet. But this means he doesn't exist" Zatara said

"Of course he exists you saw him just a few minutes ago!" Selina yelled

"Calm down Selina we won't solve anything by fighting, I checked for the other members of the team it came up with the same thing for all of them" Bruce informed them

A transmission came to Batman's com-link "yes?"

"_Bruce we have a big problem"_ Superman reported

"We have a problem of our own, surely you can handle it can't you"

"_This is world-wide have you see the news!" _

"The news?" batman looked to batwoman and she nodded pulling up to local news on the holographic computer screen

Cat Grant had a worried look on her face and a small image behind her with the silhouettes of a small boy and girl titled "Where are the Children?"

"World Wide reports are all the same: Every Child under the age of 18 has disappeared, parents are desperate for answers. From secular and religious leaders, from the heroes of the justice league and from scientist at faculties like Star Labs"

After hearing the report the three league members turned to each other seeing this didn't just involve the team

"Something like this would require a massive amount of sorcery" Zatara informed them

oOo

Outside of Star Labs in Gotham city the police had made a barricade around the entrance to protect the scientist from a mob of parents outside

Lance Crock was at the front of the mob "Those Egg heads in there know what happened to our kids. For all we know they're responsible. Make them tell us the truth!" they got the mob even more fired up and began going forward

Lance smirked and began backing away at the mob was going toward the police

"Citizens of Gotham, please return to your home, rest assure the best minds here and around the world are working on this and only this" Commissioner Jim Gordon yelled to the mob through a bullhorn "Everything possible is being done to recover your…our children. Violence will not get them back so all your creating is a dangerous distraction to what really matters here tonight"

Because the police were busy holding back to mob of parents none of them noticed the man walk out of star labs dressed as a scientist with a case and then be picked up by a car smirking at lance as he patted the case

oOo

Batman and Zatara were looking at the Helmet of Fate on the showcase of souvenirs

"So how desperate are we?"

"I informed the watchtower you located the focal point at Roanoke. But the rest of the league is deployed to divert the chaos. Tornado, Batwoman, you and I are on our own"

"I would do anything to get my daughter back"

"Yes. But we both know there are many ways for you to lose her"

"So not that desperate, not yet. The entire league is unavailable?"

"Except perhaps for captain marvel, He's missing" Although he and Selina already knew he was probably in his child form when the children disappeared

oOo

Billy was struggling to keep hold of the plane's flight "I can't if I say it, I'll be an adult and maybe disappear forever. Captain Marvel may have the courage of ukuleles but Billy Batson …..has the courage of Billy Batson. Shazam!"

Lighting striked and he turned into his adult form driving a nonexistent plane before falling but catching himself by flying "Hey I didn't disappear!" he heard a scream from below "Amber!" he flew down and caught her in his arms "Gotcha!"

_RECOGNIZED: CAPTAIN MARVEL 15_

The three league members turned to the zeta tubes as soon as they heard the announcement of the arrival of their missing member

"Alright guys I'm here to—" Captain marvel's eyes widened at the sight of the adults and flew over getting batman and Zatara in a bear hug "You're back!" he then moved to batwoman and gave her a big hug "Is it over where's the team!"

"Haven't you heard? Every child in the world has—"Zatara began but batman cut him off

"Zatara wait, captain where have you been?"

"On a world without grownups. Holy molly there are two worlds!"

"Two dimensions, one for adults—"Batwoman began

"And one for kids" Captain Marvel finished

"And you can travel between them?" Zatara asked

"I think I can..i know I can…Shazam!"

/oOo/

Captain marvel turned back into ten year old Billy Batson "It worked" he turned to see the team

"Where did you come from? Who are you?" aqualad asked

"Quick! Read my mind" he told M'gann

Her eyed began glowing and scanned his mind, she gasped once she was done "He's Captain Marvel"

"Yeah an I'm speedy Gonzales" wally scoffed "Look just because he believes he's Cap-"

"Gee Wally do I really need to bring you nachos and pineapple juice to get on your good side?" Billy smirked and put his hands on his hips

The others eyes widened and turned to each other

/oOo/

"There will be threats in both dimensions" Batman stated "And we may not be familiar with our opponents"

/oOo/

"The key to this mission is a coordinated simultaneous attack"

/oOo/

"Agreed. The best chance against socercery is to strike fast, disrupt their efforts"

/oOo/

"And hope the two dimensions merge naturally back into one"

oOo

Klarion sensed something wasn't right teekle sensed it also and ran away. Dicks and arrows came at klarion from behind but he put up a shield to protect himself from the attack making the weapons fall at his feet "That's the best you can do?"

Klarion sent a lighting strike down at artemis and Black bat but they jumped out of the way before it could hit. Superboy, Aqualad, and Kid Flash came at him from all sides but he put up another shield making them bounce back

Zatanna stepped in and said a spell to try and break the shield but all it did was phase it a bit

"Tch baby magic" klarion said his own spell flinging Zatanna into the air but Superboy ran and caught her before she could hit the ground

Miss martian levitated some rocks to try and break through the shield so Klarion sent fire through his mouth at her but she flew away before it could hit

"Listen, when fate possessed my body he defeated klarion by attacking the cat" Kid flash told artemis

She looked to see it was licking it's paw "Good not the big cat fan anyway" she fired an arrow at it but klarion turned into a green ball of yarn as it feel at teekle's side

"Show em' what the familiar lord of chaos can do teekle" klarion hands waved over to the cat and it turned into a large beast. Superboy ran at it but was flicked away by its paw but was able to dodge when it tried to stomp him but not the next hit sending him skidding across the ground

/oOo/

Captain marvel landed behind Wizard, Batman landed behind Felix Faust, and batwoman landed behind blackbriar thorn both of them throwing batarrangs at them but the sorcerers made vines grow from the ground tying them up

Red Tornado landed and sent a tornado at one of them but he used a blast of fire to push RT back, Zatara said a spell making lighting strike each of the sorcerers, the gem in the middle of the circle began glowing and the lighting was diverted into it

/oOo/

Klarion gasped "Oh so you've teamed up with the grownups? Teams are so overrated" klarion sent the lighting building up in the gem at the team pushing back artemis and Black bat but aqualad diverted it into his hand

Artemis fell to the ground unconscious but Black bat groaned and slowly got up gritting his teeth as the electrum begun doing its work on where he was shot. Zatanna came up to them from behind "Artemis! Are you alright Black bat?" she saw he was gritting his teeth so though he might have been seriously injured

"Fine"

She glanced at the others and saw they weren't faring well against klarion, then to a rock behind her, she moved her hand to it and said a spell making the Helmet of Fate appear

/oOo/

Wizard levitated rocks out of the ground sending them at Captain Marvel but he was able to smash them easily, as he was about to attack Zatara came up to him from behind "Captain wait. That mystic Gem" pointing to the stone in the middle of the circle "Without it nothing may keep apart two worlds from becoming one once again"

"I'll tell the team…Shazam!"

/oOo/

Billy arrived to see klarion was electrocuting aqualad "it's the ge—"Miss Martian covered his mouth from behind

"_Don't shout Billy I've linked you telepathically to the others"_

"_That's so cool, I mean…it's the gem at the center of the circl, destroy it and we win!"_

Zatanna finished making the Helmet appear "That's all I needed to know" she picked the helmet up and held it above her head

"Zatanna!" aqualad yelled

"Stop!" Kid flash yelled

Black bat turned a bit to see what she was doing just as she placed the helmet on her head and was consumed in golden light letting Nabu possess her body

"Klarion! This ends now!"

"_Billy tell Zatara!"_ Miss martian turned to him

"_Right….Shazam!" _

Klarion sent a ray at Fate but he sent his own back at him

"Why didn't you stop her?!" Kid flash yelled at Black bat. He was still in pain from the electrum

'Funny I should be used to being electrocuted by now'

/oOo/

Batman and Batwoman broke free from the vines and sent their batarrangs back at them to destroy them before running to join the fight

"She did what!" Zatara yelled after hearing captain marvel's report "Go back right now and-"

"No the sooner we end this the sooner we can help your daughter. Keep the bad guys distracted I have an idea" he flew through the air "Speed of mercury, Power of Zeus!" he began twisting before drilling into the ground

/oOo/

Klarion gathered energy blasts and fired them at Fate while he was flying through the air to avoid them before he stopped over the shield and sent his own ray of lighting to break through it as Aqualad used water hammers to burst through and Miss Martian levitated rocks at it

Suddenly Doctor Fate disappeared and Zatanna almost fell out of the air before Fate took over again and it switched back and forth a bit. "Hah there see, with the worlds divided the helmet splits too you're not all here nabu and your losing hold of that soon to be dead girl. Aw she gave herself for nothing"

"No witch boy! Fate decreased her sacrifice will not be in vain!" he sent a final powerful ray at the shield and with everyone working to break it, it finally started to come down

Fate imprisoned klarion in an arnk symbol binding his head and arms

"Now kid!" wally sped by and grabbed the gem out of the ground

"Doc catch!" he threw it up to Fate

/oOo/

Captain Marvel burst out of the ground below the gem and threw It up "Zatara catch!"

/oOo/

Both Doctor fate and Zatara said a spell at the same time merging the two world back into one. The four adult sorcerers fell to the ground

"Boy they sure don't make evil immortal sorcerers like they used to" klarion stated "Oh well, fun while it lasted" he snapped his fingers and the symbol binding him began dissipating and wiping some dust off his sleeve "Teekle!"

The cat was still wrestling with Conner until it was called and it jumped off the boy of steel turning back into its small form and running to klarion "See you later armadillos, unless I see you first!" he called before jumping into a portal he made behind him

Kid flash skidded to a halt below Doctor fate "Aren't you gonna stop him?"

"To what end? Klarion is chaos personified, he cannot be contained"

Batman finished tying up the four sorcerers while Batwoman reunited with her son. Zatara stepped up below Doctor Fate "Fate! Great Nabu, release my daughter"

"No, Witness the havoc rise in these hours the world needs doctor fate and the girls natural affirmation for the mystic arts makes her the perfect candidate"

"You can't do that she had her own life to live!" artemis yelled

"Kent would never allow you to—" wally began but Fate cut him off

"Kent nelson did object strenuously so I released his spirit to the afterlife, he is gone"

"Take me instead" Zatara spoke up after everyone looked at each other "My skills are already at their peak, my body is physically stronger better able to withstand the strain of your power"

"All true but if I remove the helmet, what guarantee do I have that you will don it?"

"My word" Zatara said a clarification

Doctor fate began to lower down to the ground in front of him and removed the helmet, releasing Zatanna "Dad" she hugged him

"Zatanna" he hugged her before placing a kiss on her forehead "Remember I love you" he turned over to batman "Take care of my girl"

"You have my word"

Zatara held the helmet above his head and zatanna's eyes widened "No wait this was my fault please don't dad!" but he ignored her placing the helmet on his head and letting Nabu possess his body

Doctor fate turned away from Zatanna and held his hand out to the four sorcerers "Leave these to fate" he levitated them with him as he flew in the air then vanished

Zatanna dropped to her knees while her fellow team members tried to comfort her

oOo

M'gann and Artemis were helping Zatanna move into a room at Mount Justice

"And my room is right next door if you need anything" M'gann offered

"Thanks I um could use a little alone time ok"

"Ok course" Artemis nodded and both girls left the room

_To be continued_

**I at first wanted Dick to put the helmet on instead of Zatanna, then Zatara would see her hurt expression and take his place as Nabu's host but I didn't think all the circumstances would have gone right with that situation **


	35. Cold-Hearted

Cold- Hearted 

"Did you encounter any problems along your travel to deliver the heart?" Batman asked Kid flash once they were done with the missions

"Actually yes, Count Vertigo did a lot to try and prevent the heart from getting delivered in time, I met this weird guy on my way to the hospital but he didn't really try to injure me just slow me down"

"Really who?" Artemis asked

"No idea" Wally shrugged

"Describe him" Batman ordered

"Hmm let's see…" Wally tapped his chin thinking back to the man "Well he was mostly dressed in their weird armor, covered his entire body so I couldn't see his face but he had some weapons across his chest on this belt, some guns on his hips, and the helmet he was wearing was like a owl's head"

Batman's eyes widened, he was thankful dick wasn't in the room since he had sent him home with Selina after they destroyed the ice fortress, but that description matched what would look like a Court of Owls Talon

"What exactly did he do to you?"

_/Flashback/_

Some police officers were standing on the road side waiting for Kid Flash to run by

"He's due past here any minute"

But right behind them they heard a thump in the snow and all of them turned to see a man dressed in Owl like armor, he ran at them kicking one officer, punching another in the face and when another officer tried to attack him with a Baton but he blocked it with his arm then punched him in the gut before sending him to the ground

An officer jumped on his back so the talon grabbed his arms then flipped him off sending him into two more officers who were coming to attack him, An officer got back up and tried to attack him from behind with a baton but the talon turned just in time and grabbed him by the neck, because the gloves talons wore had claws on them the man began screaming from the pinching he was getting

Kid Flash came running and ran past the scene seeing the Man clad in armor had the police officer by the throat _"What was that?...Who was that?" _he quickly turned around headed back to the scene

The talon had managed to kill the officer by snapping his neck and turned to see Kid Flash was coming back ramming into him making him drop the officer's body but he flipped back to his feet to face the young hero

"Go get out of here I'll handle this guy!" Kid flash yelled to the live officers

"You'll handle me?" Wally turned just in time for the talon to grab him "Little boy you don't have the skill to take me on" Wally was pretty sure the man was grinning under his helmet so grabbed his hands and kicked him away with both his feet landing back on the snow while the talon was getting his balance

Kid flash sped forward dodging a punch by skidding under it like he always saw Black bat do then tried to kick the man's feet out from under him but the man flipped avoiding it and then kicked wally away. Wally flipped with one hand back to his feet _"This guy is so going down"_

"When I heard authorities were clocking off this highway for a speedster I assumed I would be encountering flash himself but I guess I will have to settle for his sidekick instead"

Wally glanced behind the man seeing the officers were escaping _"Troopers are safely out of range, good frees me up to show this guy just what this sidekick can do" _Wally ran at the man again punching him in the chest with both fists but only managed to make him skid back a little _"Kind of bashing my head into a brick wall here, need a new approach" _

Wally began running around the talon "Well you're truly running circles around me, how will I cope" wally came out of the circle and hit the talon in the back _"Not coping so well now are you?" _ he got an alert on his wrist computer _"What am I doing?! Sure I'd love to trash the big jerk but that won't save the girl" _he stopped running in a circle and left

/_End Flashback/_

"_It was a good thing you got out of there when you did" _Batman thought even if the talon wasn't trying to kill Wally he would have been angered from being hit and probably would have severely injured the young speedster. He could remember even dick was angered whenever his opponent landed a hit while he was a talon too

"Do you have any idea who that might have been batman?" Aqualad asked

"No but I will look into it" He did need to look into it since now he knew for sure the talons were back but he knew their old base was still destroyed and kept an eye on it in case any talons ever came back "You are dismissed"

The team nodded but Zatanna handed a Christmas present to Batman "I got this for Black Bat I was planning to give it to him but he's not here so could you give it to him for me?"

"Sure" He wasn't going to tell dick about the Talon sighting but he would hope this would cheer him up

"Thank you" she nodded and followed after the team

oOo

Alfred had made a fresh batch of Chocolate chip cookies, Dick's favorite type of cookie while they were watching a Movie in their Living room. The Mansion had already been decorated for Christmas because November was almost over anyway

The bushes outside were lined with lights to shine at night, the edges of the house were lines with lights too, each window had an artificial wreath hanging on it, the pillars had artificial garlands wrapped around them. On the inside the grand stair case of the entrance had garlands wrapped around them, and in their main living room they had a large artificial Christmas tree filled with ornaments but they only put the star at the top of Christmas Eve. The chimney had garlands around it and some stockings hanging off it

Bruce stepped into the room while dick was eating one of the cookies and handed him the present from Zatanna, he lifted an eyebrow taking the box "Who is this from?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

"No, not really" he shook his head looking the box over

"Aren't you going to open it then?" Selina asked

"Shouldn't I wait until Christmas for that?"

"If you want to, then in the meantime you could get Zatanna a present in return"

"I don't even know what she likes" he retorted while putting the present under the Christmas tree, the very first one

"Well you are a detective, investigate"

(oOo)

Image 

"Rumaan Harjavti is the democratic re-elected president of Qurac, Harjavti has been praised as a fair, wise leader, a humanitarian" Batman explained "But five days ago, harjaviti allied himself with the dictator of the neighboring nation of bialya, Queen Bee"

"Hmph not a fan" Conner huffed

"Few are but harjaviti suddenly backs queen bee's backless claim that qurac and bialya were once one nation in ancient times and has announced the countries will reunify in two days at a ceremony in qurac"

A video played on the screen with harjaviti at a podium _"After the ceremony I will step down as president so that our rightful monarch Queen Bee may rule" _The video switched to Queen Bee at a podium _"I lode president harjaviti for unifying out people and I will gladly come to qurac to be crowned sole leader of our nation"_

"And the quracies are ok with this?" Wally asked

"Hardly" batman brought up an image of the people of qurac protesting against the unification "They're well aware of the brutality of queen bee's reign but harjaviti has censored the press, silenced all legitimist protests and has invited the bialiyan military to his country to enforce martial law"

"Queen bee does have the power to enthrall most men, She must be controlling him" Dick suggested

"She does have the power to enthrall some women, but not long distance and we have confirmation she hasn't left bialya something else is at work here. Fine out what. Black bat you're in charge"

Dick's eyes widened "What about aqualad"

"Busy helping aquaman you're the next logical choice"

"Promotion sweet" Kid flash held up a hand to high five him but he just walked away "Dude you left me hanging"

oOo

"We're above the Qurac-Bialya border"

"A board of the bialyans are in the process of ignoring" Wally looked out to see some tanks ram over a bard-wire fence scaring away the Oryx's around the inside

"No opposition, Guess harjaviti really is embed with bialya" Conner looked to their temporary leader

"Wouldn't expect opposition here" he looked to his holographic computer "It's an animal sanctuary"

"The Logan animal sanctuary?" M'gann asked making him lift an eyebrow

Kid flash put on his goggles "Guys the things have caused a stampede with civilians in harms way" Conner went over to look "I see them woman and a small boy"

"We have to help them

"We are off mission here" But after some thought "Deploy but stealth mode, the bialyians know we hit them this becomes an international incident"

The tanks and soldiers below were moving forward until a red laser came from above making one tank crash into another so they stopped and looked up but saw nothing until a batarrang landed below their feet and sent out smoke letting kid flash run by and knock them out while more red lasers scared away the other soldiers

The Oryx stampede were heading right for the woman and child so they ducks for cover, Superboy landed in front of them and stopped an oryx in front of them and diverted the rest from them

The baby oryx that they were caring for got up and ran into the stampede, the boy eyes widened "Oryx!" but then saw it begin to float in the air above the stampede "Whoa"

"Are you both alright?" they heard from behind and turned to see Black Bat and Kid Flash, wally tossed aside some guns that he had taken from the soldiers

"Mom, Mom, Mom! We were just saved by Black bat and Kid Flash!"

"Well Superboy and Miss martian helped too" Superboy stepped up beside them as Miss Martian levitated Oryx back to the ground but stayed in cameo-mode

"Oryx!"

"The bialyians around the sanctuary have been diverted, you should be safe now"

"Uh yeah, coast is clear Miss M you can de-cameo now" Wally looked to her as she took off her hood and became visible

"H-Hi"

"You may have made things worse, bialyian border crossing are way of life here usually they wreck a few fences and move on engaging them might have made us a target" the mother crossed her arms

"Mom, uncool" the boy moaned

She sighed "I'm sorry I should thank you, this is my son Garfield I'm—"

"Marie Logan, I can't believe I'm actually meeting you in person" M'gann interrupted getting weird looks from conner and wally

Marie stepped up to the animal they were treating "The Oryx is sick and I think you've injured this wildebeest" she looked to conner

"Uh sorry"

"I suppose it was unavoidable they both need to go to our clinic"

"The boys can do that" M'gann offered "You and I can fix you're fences"

Dick frowned "That is not exact-" he stopped when m'gann began begging making him lift both his eyebrows, nobody had ever begged him for something

"Black bat please!"

"Mom please" Garfield did the same with his mother

And at the same time "Fine"

"Yes!"

oOo

A monkey came out of a tree landing on Conner's shoulder before moving to Kid Flash and taking his granola bar and going to Garfield "Meet monkey"

"Nice name, but I hate monkeys" Conner gritted when the monkey threw the bar at his head

"Be glad he only threw a protein bar" wally smirked

Garfied led them inside the house, wally felt free to sit on one of the arm chairs while Black bat and Conner stayed standing

"So pretty weird about Miss Martian and my mom huh?"

"What do you mean?" Conner crossed his arms

"I mean she looks exactly like Marie you know except greener"

"She does?" Wally asked

"Well duh, especially back when mom was a TV star on 'Hello Megan'"

"Wait Hello megan is a TV show?" Wally looked to black bat but all he did was shrug

"It was way before any of us were born, only one season you can't even find it online" He turned to the TV behind him "I know mom had a tape somewhere

oOo

Garfield found the tape "Hello Megan the pilot episode!" he blowed some dust off of it and put it in the VCR player

"Whoa you still have VHS where's you 8 track?" Wally asked

Conner turned "Wait…Aircraft headed this way" Black bat ran out with Conner but Wally turned back to the boy "Gar stay put" before following the others

Conner came out and turned to the girls, M'gann looked to him "What is it?" But as her answer they turned to see three aircrafts moving toward them and began shooting. M'gann pushed marie to the ground as conner came to protect them

"Where's my son?!"

"I told him to stay inside" wally told her

"He's 8 he doesn't listen to anyone" and right behind her the barn door opened"MOM! it's ok I got the animals out!" he waved to her. The planes began shooting the barn and hitting the gas tank next to it blowing it up and causing Garfield to be blown away

"Garfield!"

M'gann quickly flew up and caught him seeing he was unconscious then flying back down and handing him to Marie. The aircrafts came back around to Conner and M'gann went to fight them off

"I told you there's be consequences" Marie glared at Black bat

"Get him inside" he told her

Superboy jumped up and destroyed one of the aircrafts by punching it while Miss Martian smashed the other two into each other destroying them too

oOo

Marie looked over Garfied "He's in shock he needs a blood transfusion now is either of you O negative?"

"No" wally told her

Dick looked away 'it used to be' "No" he brought out his holographic computer 'Unless he wants to be in pain every time he's injured'

"Neither am I it's the hardest to match, I kept a supply at the clinic"

"I can run him to the nearest hospital"

"The nearest hospital with a guaranteed blood supply is half an hour away at your top speed, longer by Bio-ship"

"He doesn't have that much time, what's superboy's blood type?"

"He's Kryptonian and Miss martian —"

"Might be able to help, my shape-shifting occurs at the cellular level, I think I can morph my blood to match his" she stepped up to the bed

"Please try"

Miss martian nodded "I'll need to concentrate no distractions"

Marie nodded "Out all of you out" she told them boys

oOo

"Harjaviti steps down tomorrow, subjecting all of qurac to this danger. Kid Flash can you find a news station?" Black bat asked

He had three remotes in his hand "Sure which remote is it" he pressed power on one of them and the tv lit up

_Hello Megan! Schools and Boys and parents too whole lot to juggle for miss you know who. Hello Megan, Hello Megan. This cheerleader knows the score center of attention and so much more. Hello Megan, Hello Megan!_

The boys were now staring wide eyed at the screen seeing a girl that looked exactly like M'gann in her Caucasian form on it

_A little bit distractible but never too attractable, she's really quite attractable ok a lot distractible. Eventually she'll get a cluuuueee. _

"_Hello Megan" the girl did the same thing m'gann always did when she said that_

_The girl for me the girl for you_

Conner frowned when he saw the girl hug a boy on the screen, and wally turned to black bat but he was just as surprised as they were

_Hello Megan, Hello megan! The girl for me the girl for you! Hello Megan, hello Megan! _

"Maybe it's a coincidence" Conner offered

_Hello Megan!_

"_Mom I'm going to the library to study" Megan came down the stairs while her mother was dusting the couch _

"_But didn't you invite a certain someone to study here?" right on cue the door bell rang _

_Megan frowned "Hello Megan!" she went down to open the door and find a boy "Conner I thought you'd never get here" _

Conner put his fists on his hips and looked away, wally smirked and whispered to Black bat "Oh yeah real coincidence" behind them M'gann came back into the room

"it's done" Kid flash jumped rushing to change the channel on the tv "All we can do now is wait" the TV changed to the news of harjaviti giving another speech

"_My fellow quracies, queen bee's rule is a gift to qurac"_

"Hey that guy in back I know him" Dick knew him too pulling up his profile on his holographic computer

"It's Simon the physic we fought last time we were in bilya. He was working for queen bee then he must be controlling harjaviti now"

"Ugh I still remember the headache from when he brain blasted us" Wally groaned

"We must get harjaviti away from him"

"I think I worked" Marie came back into the room "Garfield's stable"

"Good, We have our mission"

oOo

Black bat used a camera attached to cable to look inside the room harajaviti was in seeing he was alone but knew it might now be for long so kept his guard up as he motioned for the team to move in. He walked up to harjaviti

"Where's my daughter?" he asked then held his head "Where's simon?"

"Forget him let's get you out of here" but before they could even move some solders came into the room surrounding them with weapons, the chief came in last

"Well, Well American heroes here to assassinate the president" Dick flinched at the word assassinate while M'gann steeped past them in her cameo-mode "Such a shame we arrived to late to stop them"

"_Those apocalyptic weapons"_

"_Which they plan to use on harjaviti, fame us, and queen bee rules qurac. Form up around the president" _

"_I found simon" _M'gann floated out of the room

"_Wait!"_

"_I'll get her"_

"_No, the mission is harjaviti" _

oOo

The three boys were able to defeat the bialiyan soldiers

"Thank you for saving my father" the daughter thanked "We will take care of him now" but as they were going to help M'gann they were brain blasted again by M'gann making them fall unconscious so they wouldn't see her true form

/later/

Dick woke up with a massive headache again as the electrum did it's work on healing it while the others got recuperated but while the electrum was healing him he felt a small sharp pain in his chest for one second until it was gone '_What the…' _

"And there's the headache" Wally groaned

"Simon brain blasted you, I stopped him" she looked over to simon who was unconscious against a bunch of broken chairs

oOo

Miss Martian morphed back into her human form after posing as Queen Bee outside

"Dude you saved a country pretty big win for your first job as team leader" Wally nudged him on the shoulder

Dick nodded but his mind was still on the small sharp pain he felt during the electrum's healing process, but he decided it was probably a side effect from the brain blast

oOo

"_And I assure you the Wayne is here to do whatever It can to help you and your people rebuild qurac" _Bruce Wayne was shaking harjaviti's hands while his wife Selina Wayne smile in the back round

"Wow Bruce Wayne got here pretty fast huh?" Wally turned to Black bat but he just shrugged again so he walked over and got the 'Hello Megan' tape then showed it to M'gann "Something you'd like to tell us?"

She looked around to see the others were looking at her too, she sighed getting the tape from wally "Growing up on Mars was not a happy time for me but I started watching the broadcast my uncle sent from earth to teach us about our sister planet when I saw 'Hello Megan' something just clicked maybe it was the similarities in our names, maybe it was the way all of Megan's problems could be solved in 22 minutes. All I know for sure is Megan helped me smile through a lonely childhood so when I came to earth and had to adopt a human form I chose you" looking to Marie "Well um Megan"

"Which begs the question what do you really look like?"

M'gann got up morphing into what looked like a female J'onn

"Bald M'gann, still hot"

Conner got up and took her hands "You know you don't have to a mask for me"

She shrank back morphing back into Megan "I do it for me, this is who I am. Inside, please don't be mad" looking back over to Marie

"Mad? I'm honored M'gann you saved my son he says he's your blood brother now and I agree you're family"

M'gann came over and hugged her "Thank you, you can't know what that means to me"

Agenda's

Once the topic of Captain Marvel's true age came up his member ship of the league began to be questioned

"Maybe it's time we all talked about the elephant in the room, should captain marvel stay a member now that we know he's really only 10 years old?"

"He does possess an adult body and the wisdom of Slovene" Red Tornado defended

"Wisdom does not equal maturity" Aquaman argued

"Hey I'm sitting right here"

"Then Billy maybe you should leave until we've hashed this out" Black canary offered

"No" Batman argued "Captain Marvel is a member and is entitled to participate until or unless he is voted out"

"It's not just his age, it's the fact that he lied about it" Wonder woman brought up

"I didn't lie I just left out the part about being a kid"

"The lie of the mission is still a lie, you kept an important secret form us, no one in the league knew the truth"

"We did" Batwoman inputted

"I shouldn't be surprised after all you two indoctrinated Black Bat into crime fighting at the rightful age of 9"

"Black bat needed to redeem himself from all the crimes he had committed"

"Well since we're on the subject, what about him should he be allowed to continue on as a member of the team?" Wonder woman asked

"I thought you we're finally giving him a break" Selina argued

"Yes but I didn't say all of us" Black canary interrupted

"I used to be a criminal too but I've obviously changed and so has he"

"You were never a major criminal and you're crimes weren't that serious unlike a serial killer"

"And there have been some sightings of Talons haven't there? Black canary told me about his visit with Ivo and some Grandfather comment"

"We did not want to reveal that bit of information because we knew it would cause havoc among you but, Black bat was not aware of this himself until he was taken by the talons at 6, the leader of the Court of Owls is his Great-Great Grandfather"

Before havoc could break lose Selina stepped up "He was the one that left him to die in that fire, Black Bat even told us the man had him tortured occasionally"

"Black bat has not shown any sign of betrayal since he was rescued I say we give him our approval" Flash announced

"What about the Talon sightings, they will most likely come for him once they learn he's alive" Superman asked

"I have been looking into it but I haven't found anything on a base, I do know that they will not likely involve the team in this if they do come for Black bat"

The league members looked to each other and wondered if that was true and if it was they would give Black bat their approaval

_To be continued_

**I think I'm getting close to the end I just need to make dick turn 14 and he's already started dating Zatanna in the back round of the story, M'gann and conner never showed how they started their relationship so I don't think they would have either**

**As for the Christmas theme I see all around the stores and national parsk in November they already put up Christmas decorations even before thanksgiving so I didn't see the problem with doing it for the Mansion **


	36. Insecurity

Insecurity

_RECONGIZED: ARTEMIS B-07_

"Artemis just in time look who's agreed to join the team" Green Arrow motioned to Red Arrow

"Finally" Wally cheered

"Sure team's needed a real archer" Wally lifted his eyebrows at her

"Ok people listen up" Green Arrow walked to the holographic computer "The Dynamic Trio's on a case in Gotham but batman gave me a head's up" He pulled up an image of Sportsmaster "Sportsmaster was spotted coming trough Lowie Armstrong New Orleans international airport"

"In full costume? Nervy" Zatanna commented

"In street clothes, facial recognition software picked up the ID, find out what he's up to"

"All of us? Seems like overkill for a shadow job" Superboy asked

"Perhaps a small squad, Miss Martian's camouflage abilities seem ideal" Red Tornado offered

"Thought the sidekicks…sorry Ex-sidekicks could suit up on this, aqualad, Kid flash, Red Arrow"

"Good steak out's make me crazy" Conner huffed

"We could use the night off" Miss martian agreed

"I want in" Artemis announced "With M'gann and Black Bat out no one's logged more hours piloting the bio-ship "

"Artemis are you sure?" Green Arrow asked

"Absolutely"

"Well I guess you can go too, head out" Green arrow motioned for them as they headed straight for the hanger

While Miss martian was walking to the living room with Zatanna and Conner she noticed the bracelet on her wrist "Cute bracelet where'd you get it"

"Oh this Black Bat got it for me" She smiled holding her wrist up to her face admiring the gift

"Really, it looks expensive" M'gann saw all the diamonds on it

"It's diamond tiffany's tennis bracelet of course it's expensive, I think he said it was about $2,399"

"And you accepted it" M'gann was dumbfounded that was a lot of money

"Oh believe me I didn't want it at first but he assured me I should have it since I got him a gift to though it wasn't as much as this"

"What did you get him?" Conner asked

"I didn't really know what he likes so I just got him a watch"

"Well that is a god gift for a guy it must have also counted as a birthday gift for him"

"His birthday!" Zatanna's eyes widened

"Yeah his birthday was about three days ago, he turned 14" Conner told her

"I didn't even know his birthday had already passed, I'm a horrible girlfriend for not even realizing it hwo did you two know if I didn't?"

"First calm down Zatanna I'm sure he's not mad that you didn't know if he was he did a good job of hiding it, and second we knew because it's on his team profile"

"I need to go shopping for another gift that was for Christmas not his birthday"

"All the stores are probably closed by now, why don't you try baking him a cake instead for the next time he comes"

"That's perfect"

"Do you even know what flavor he likes?" Conner asked

"Yes he likes chocolate"

M'gann couldn't really picture Black Bat eating chocolate but if that was what he liked than he would have a chocolate cake

"Why don't I help"

"Thanks m'gann"

oOo

Aqualad and Red Arrow we're parking a motorcycle in the back of the bio-ship

"I gather you did not join the team for the comradely"

"There's a mole on this team, Narrowed down to four of you, but artemis is suspect number one"

oOo

While the cake was baking in the oven the rest of them had decided it was getting a little boring

"No offence guys but even my boredom is bored" Zatanna moaned

"Maybe the night off wasn't the best idea" M'gann agreed

"Hey Red Tornado got any good steak out's for us?" Conner asked

"I do not you must amuse yourselves " Red Tornado created a tornado below him to fly up into the ceiling living area

"That's tornado's apartment isn't it?" Zatanna asked

"It is"

"But tornado doesn't eat or sleep or change clothes or well anything"

"So?" Conner asked

"Soooo, what does he do up there?" Zatanna smirked

Once tornado left the mountain the three of them headed back to the mission room and looked to the entrance of his apartment, Zatanna said a spell to levitate to the door while m'gann flew with her, she said another spell to make the door open

"Bark if tornado comes back" Conner told Wolf then jumped to up to join them

There was a Christmas tree with a few toys and gifts under it and a few machines but conner turned to see a humanoid figure lying on an exam table with a red blanket over it

"Is that what I think it is?" Zatanna asked while they walked over to it, they looked at each other before Conner grabbed the blanket and took it off. Their eyes widened at the sight

"So is Red building a friend or what?" Zatanna asked looking over the human like android ]

The door to the apartment opened and winds made them turn to see Red Tornado "Perhaps you should ask Red"

"Wolf" Conner growled

Down in the mission room Wolf was sound asleep

"Alright what's with the new bot?" Conner asked once he landed

"I am a robot this is an android, he will serve as my alter ego John Smith and allow me to download my consciousness to that I may walk among humans, interact and learn"

"I think it's a wonderful idea" M'gann agreed

"You're approval is appreciated but your presence is uninvited. Is this a sign of disrespect?"

"Curiosity" M'gann said

"Boredom" Conner said at the same time

"You know he's cute" Zatanna got his attention "But if the goal is interaction" She said a spell while snapping her fingers making the red blanket wrap around the androids legs and turn into pants "He really needed pants"

oOo

"Let me be clear, we failed" Aqualad reported to Red Tornado "Though the Injustice League is in custody their allies still scheme and we have learned nothing of their plans"

"Gee I wonder why" Red Arrow crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at artemis

"Hey who found out Sportsmaster was working for Brain, Klarion and Ivo"

"Yeah great Intel except Ivo's been in Belle Reve the whole time and the guards just checked it's the real ivo not a robot"

"You know I'm getting real tired of you dumping on her" Wally argued as Roy held up a tracer "Her tracer so Cheshire ditched it"

"No Artemis ditched that" Roy motioned to a tracer is Aqualad's hands "To send us on a wild goose chase" then held up the tracer in his hand "She put this one on Cheshire!"

"Artemis?" Wally turned to her "Are you that freaked out about arrow joining the team that you had to prove yourself by bringing down the bad guys solo? Please tell me I'm wrong"

Artemis was about to say something but stopped so he contined

"Well nice going what you proved is that your insecure and selfish keep the sigh" He threw down Cheshire's weapon at her feet then turned to Red Arrow taking the tracer from his hand "This is the right souvenir for the mission" and walked away

"So how will you betray us next time?" Roy asked

"Enough" Aqualad put a hand on his shoulder "If making a mistake was a betrayal we would all be traitors, I must report to Batman, the rest of you get some sleep"

oOo

"You made us a cake?" Wally looked to the chocolate cake on the counter but before he could touch it Zatanna took it away from the counter

"No it's for Black bat as an apology for forgetting his birthday" She said a spell putting in white icing Happy Birthday with a bat symbol on the bottom on it

"He doesn't seem like the type to eat sweets Zatanna"

"Oh he is he loves chocolate"

'Come to think of it I've never seen Black Bat eat anything so I can't just assume he doesn't eat sugar'

oOo

The Dynamic Trio was stopping Ra's al ghul from sabotaging a rocket's flight to outer space and currently fighting a group of his soldiers. Black bat punched a soldier in the jaw sending him back while Batwoman sent a kick into another's chest and Batman kicked another in the face behind him while punching another in front of him

"I need to get to the Rocket" Batman yelled

"Roger that" Black Bat and Batwoman kicked into overdriving attacking the soldiers that were holding batman back "We'll run interference!" And with that Batman ran off toward the rocket

But Ubu came out from behind a truck blocking Batman's path "The master must learnt o live with disappointment" Batman dodged a hit from ubu jumping up then kicking him but Ubu grabbed him by the neck before he could holding him against the truck

"_Hold tight Batman!" _Black bat snuck a tube around Ubu's ankle from the Oil truck then use a batarang to keep the Gas petal down "_Now Batman!" _

Batman kicked Ubu off as the truck drove away taking ubu with it, But as Batman headed for the Rocket someone shot at him from behind he didn't even need to turn around the know who it was "Hello Talia"

"That will simply prove I'm serious"

"You can't stop me talia"

"I must beloved"

Batwoman came and jumped down next to Batman making talia glare at her

Down at the bottom of the tower dick watched the scene "Black bat to Batcave are you seeing this?"

"_Unfortunately yes, I have a front row seat" _Alfred watched through the camera in Bruce's mask

"It's not that I approve of this but I cannot risk a confrontation between the only two men I love in this world" Talia continued to point her gun at the Bats

"Batwoman take care of her " Batman told his wife while he shot a grappling hook to the top of the tower. Selina was glad to fight Talia even though she knew Bruce was married there was still a rivalry between the two women

Talia began shooting at Selina as she ran at her so Batwoman used her cape to shield herself as she came within arm distance of her and took the gun from her hand throwing it the ground. Talia sent a punch at Selina but she dodged it then kicked her in the stomach sending her back a bit and then punched her sending her into the railings of the tower . Talia recovered and came back at Selina punching her then kneeing her in the stomach before kicking her to the ground

Selina flipped back to her feet and prepared to attack Talia again

Black bat finished off the last of the soldiers at the bottom then began heading up to the top of the tower where Bruce was seeing Selina had her fight under control, but while he was using his grappling hook to get to the top he felt a sharp pain in his chest and then aching in his arm for a few seconds before it disappeared 'That's the same pain I felt in qurac'

Batman hacked into the systems of the tower and opened the lid. "_Diamond len's sir?"_

"Yes destroying it won't be easy"

"Neither easy nor necessary" A voice came from behind

Bruce turned "Ra's al Ghul"

"Detective" Ra's al ghul the immortal leader of the League of Shadows and the only enemy that knew the identities of Batman, Batwoman and Black Bat "Such contempt and yet I've always admired you, believed you the only man worthy of my legacy. Why are our encounters always so…adversarial?"

"Something to do with your distain for human life"

"By now you've surmised my satellite focuses the rays of the sun into a weapon, yet the key is its captivity for surgical strikes , only large population centers will be targeted ….to eliminate the human surplus. Granted the human race is destroying this planet you tolerate it: I cannot but I believe I've finally arrived at an equitable compromise. Rural and natural areas will be left untouched, I'll even spare Gotham since you've developed such an unhealthy attachment to the place"

"Pass"

"All this is possible detective if only you'd join me, there's just no pleasing you" he held up a remote "This remote will launch the rocket now, you see detective I've failed in the past by underestimating you but not this time.."

"This time…I'm not the one you underestimated" Black bat landed behind him with the diamond lens in his hands

"No!"

"What do you want me to do with this batman?" Black bat asked

"Take it back to the batwing" He nodded taking another grappling hook and jumping off the tower but he didn't expect for ra's to try and get it back by jumped after him "Wait ra's!" dick yelled das he looped around landing back on one of the pillar of the tower and watching ra's collide with the ground by Talia

"_Sorry I didn't know he would.." _Black bat began but batwoman cut him off

"_None of that was your fault, in any case their death's are only temporary" _

"_Right"_

_To be continued_

**This fight scene between the bats and the al Ghul's was supposed to be during denial but I moved it up so that I could have a scene for them while the team handled the shadows **


	37. Usual suspects

Usual Suspects

A few nights before the initiation of the new members of the Justice League the Bats had been on a mission in Gotham to stop Black Mask from shipping off some dangerous products that could be used to make androids

But as protection from the Bats Black Mask had hired the fearsome hand of four, Batman had gone after Black Mask while he had Batwoman and Black Bat handle the assassins

Black Bat jumped on Bulk's back attaching three small bombs to it then jumped off as they exploded sending the man to the ground, Baton tried to hit him with his staff when he was coming at him but he dodged the hit then kicked him in the chest. Baton tried hitting him again but he was able to dodge that one too then landed a few punches; suddenly dick felt a sharp pain in his chest distracting him long enough for baton to land a hit under his shin sending him back

When Baton tried attacking him while he was down Batwoman sent some of her batarrangs at his arm exploding it sending him flying back giving Black Bat time to get back up as she landed beside him

"You alright?"

"Fine" he nodded, ok that was the third time that had happened since their mission on Qurac without him being injured so something was defiantly going on

All four members had them surrounded now

"Let's finish them off"

Bulk had recovered and rushed at Black bat trying to punch him but he dodged the hits then jumped up hitting him a few times on the face sending him back while Batwoman was attacked by Woman swinging her swords at her but she was able to dodge the slashes then sent a kick at her face sending her back before dodging the hit Baton tried to make with his staff from behind then kneed him in the stomach and punched him in the face

Shot came at Black Bat tried to tackle him but he flipped out of the way then dodged one of the lasers shot sent at him and kicked him in the stomach before dodging another laser and sending him back with another kick. Baton came at him again with his staff so he made an X-shape with his arms to shield himself then hit baton on the neck sending him to the ground before turning to Woman dodging one of her slashed and kneeing her in the stomach and hitting her on the back sending her to the ground

Woman quickly recovered and shot back up slashing him across the chest, he felt a slight burn from the cut making him groan and glare at her before she came at him again

Bulk lifted a car and threw it at Batwoman so she jumped through the open doors of the car and flipped over bulk's back landing behind him, when bulk turned to try and attack her he noticed she left a bomb on his shoulder and it exploded sending him into the brick wall of the building next to them

Shot then tried to kick Batwoman but she dodged it and then punched him in the face a few times before kneeing him in the stomach and sending him back, as Shot flipped back up he saw she had attached a bomb to his chest too and it sent him into the building behind him

Black bat dodged another of Woman's slashed but the electrum was making it really hard to keep up so he decided to end this right now by twisting one of her wrists and then elbowing her on the back of the neck knocking her unconscious. The sharp pain in his chest lasted a bit longer this time until it was over and the slash on his chest was healed so he turned to see how his mother was doing. For some reason his muscles began aching a bit but not too much for concern but he was a little more tired than he should be

Batwoman dodged a few hits from Baton's staff before kneeing him in the stomach and punching him in the face breaking his staff and knocking him unconscious

"Well that's over with" She sighed

"Shouldn't we go check on Batman?"

"He radioed me a couple minutes ago, he said he had already stopped the shipment and called Jim to come and get them but are you ok it's not like you to let your opponent get a hit on you so easily"

He wanted to tell her what was going on but felt it wasn't that big of a deal anyway it's not like he was dying just felt more pain than usual when he was being healed "I must have been distracted sorry won't happen again"

"As long as you're ok that's all that matters we should head back to the cave so you can be ready for school tomorrow" he nodded

oOo

"The Justice league was formed for two reasons, first as an acknowledgement that no single individual no matter how powerful can solve all the worlds' problems alone" Superman was giving a speech at the Hall of Justice for the new members of their league "And second to uphold the values of truth, liberty, and justice that's a last one seasoned on the name" he then turned to the new members "These five heroes have sworn to uphold those values"

oOo

Inside the Hall of Justice library the team was watching the news footage of what was going on outside from reporter Cat Grant

"_You are watching live footage of the Justice League's induction of its five newest members looks like the entire league has shown up to watch the new blood, everyone from Batman to Captain Marvel"_

Wally smiled "I'm glad they didn't kick billy out" he took a bite out of the apple in his hand "And I love the fact that there's a ten year old on the league"

"There is?" Raquel asked

Conner nudged wally in the side "Way to keep a secret"

"Hey she's on the team now right?"

"_Superman is now handing out official league membership cards starting with Doctor Fate, The Atom, Plastic man, and Icon"_

Dick comforted Zatanna when she turned away from the screen after seeing Doctor Fate and she smiled at him in thanks

"You know I was the one who convinced Icon to become a hero in the first place, I should be outside celebrating with him not hidden away in here" Raquel ranted

Kaldur smiled at her "Welcome to our world"

"Well I suppose there's an upside too" she smiled back at him

"_Finally Green Arrow welcomes his former protégé speedy now known as Red Arrow to this roster of heroes"_

"Way to go Roy!" Wally cheered

"At last he has his wish"

Dick heard beeping on his watch so held it up to his face and pulled up a mini-holographic screen

"_So there you have it the world's officially a safer place"_

"What's wrong?" Zatanna asked seeing he was frowning at his watch screen

"There has been an alert in ash field on a sighting of Cheshire" he pulled up the footage of her getting into the plane "She has the briefcase"

"Should we go after her?" Wally asked

"We do not have authorization from the league"

"They're too busy and this could be a chance to get that case back" Raquel joined in

Kadlur thought about it "This would be a good opportunity, we will go, M'gann get the Bio-ship ready"

oOo

The Bio-ship was now flying over the Smokey Mountains

"A-are you sure it's her?" Artemis asked "I mean are you absolutely positive?"

Black bat was looking over information on his holographic computer but to prove it to her he brought up the footage of Chesire getting into the plane with a mug shot next to it "This is the security footage from the ash field national airport, facial recognition confirms that's Jade Nguyen "

Artemis sighed "Yes that's her"

"Agreed but focus on what she carries is that the case you saw in New Orleans?" Aqualad asked "The one that got away?"

"Yes"

"Ok, I'm guessing from the mug-shot that this Cheshire is the bad guy but what's so important about that case?" Rocket asked

"Remember the injustice league?"

"And their giant evil plants, uh yeah"

"The team and the league put them in prison but their allies still scheme and whatever is in that containment case seems important to their plans" Aqualad explained

"We had a chance to grab it in New Orleans but someone screwed up" Wally glared at artemis and she glared back

"Approaching Cheshire's jet" Miss Martian announced but their eyes widened when they saw the plane was crashed on the ground "Looks like there were no survivors"

oOo

The team had gotten out of the Bio-ship to canvas the area looking over the crashed plane

"How come homeland security and the NTSB aren't all over this?" Wally asked while Black bat was looking over a part of the plane with Zatanna at his side

"Cheshire's ID was a league alert authorities didn't receive it and the jet did not follow the flight plan. Under the Radar but the watchtower auto tracked the jet and the crash"

"Then why isn't the league here?" Raquel asked

Zatanna smiled "Because our Boy Wonder has some mighty hacking skills and arranged to get the alert first"

"And because Cheshire and that case represent out unfinished business" Aqualad added

Superboy tosses aside a part of the plane's wing "Where are the bodies?"

"Here's one!" a voice came from above and they all looked up to see cheshire "And it is stunning" artemis smiled at her seeing she was alive

"I am flora, not fauna. I am foliage, not trees. What am i?" They turned to see The Riddler as he snapped his fingers and small pillars came out of the ground and created a dome around the area they were in "Come on you can get this I am shrubbery not trees , What am I? I…"

"Ambush" Black Bat muttered 'should have known'

"Didn't you think we'd be tipped you were on Cheshire's trial? We're tired of your interference kiddies this is the endgame ordered from above and executed by master strategist moi!"

"_Miss Martian is everyone linked?" _Aqualad asked

"_Yes" _Miss Martian answered

The Team leapted into action as Zatanna said a spell to create a blizzard. Kid Flash ran and knocked a soldier off his feet while Aqualad flipped over another and used his water weapons to knock him to the ground _"Superboy the pylons"_

Superboy threw a soldier off his shoulders "Working on it" he moved behind a broken part of the plane behind him opening a case of shields "Last one, better make it count" placing it on his arm under his sleeve 

Artemis fired an arrow at Cheshire, it knocked her off her feet but she recovered and got out two swords for each hand as artemis fired another arrow and she ran at her "It's like old times, dad pinning us against each other" Artemis blocked the slashes with her bow

Some soldiers tried were firing at Rocket while she was flying through the air so Kid Flash rushed by knocking them all off their feet as rocket did the same with the soldiers on the cliff sides

Miss Martian used her telekinesis to pull away a weapon from another soldiers hands because he tried to keep hold of it when it was taken away he ended up falling down the cliff. Another soldier released a red orb at Rocket binding her in red electricity

Black bat jumped up and kicked a soldier away on a cliff as Aqualad ran over to help Raquel getting the disk as the source of the electricity and tried to use his own electric powers to break it but because he was busy doing that he didn't notice the soldier land behind him and attach something to the ground making it melt and making him sink into it

Miss Martian levitated a rock to knock the soldier away as Superboy landed next to one fo the pylons and used his heat lasers to destroy it but mammoth landed behind him and punched him over to the cliff on the other side of the area

Conner turned to see mammoth was coming at him so flew up and punched him grabbing him by the hair and flying up

"_Superboy you're flying?" _

Superboy ignored Wally's voice and threw mammoth up to the top of the shield and then sent heat lasers at him when he began sliding down the cliffs and finally pinned him again the cliff side and began punching him

Because of the force of strength Superboy was sending into the cliff it began collapsing right above where Cheshire and Artemis were right so when some of the landslide was coming their way Jade yelled "Artemis!" and pushed her out of the way

Artemis gave her a confused look "Ok fine we're sisters I don't actually want you dead" she then leaped away so when artemis got up she was gone so glanced over and saw the case was pinned under some bolders

Next to the Riddler and Shimmer some smoke bombs exploded under them so while shimmer was coughing a lasso came through the smoke and tied her up before Black Bat came out of the smoke and punched her into the cliff side and turned to see Zatanna flying and saying a spell to tie up riddler

"No, No I am not the straight Jacket type I am strictly Belle Reve not arkhem" He fell to the ground and Zatanna said another spell to put a gag around his mouth as she landed on the cliff and Rocket landed beside her

"Is it always like this?"

"Yeah pretty much" Zatanna said a final spell to stop the blizzard

oOo

"Tell me if this sounds familiar. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed protocol and endangered your lives and your initiative resulted in the capture of three escaped felons proving warden strange who runs Belle Reve as a cover for criminal activity"

Black didn't know what he was talking about with the beginning but already kenw about Strange's cover job as the warden

Batman smiled "Well done"

Dick was surprised that Bruce actually smiled in uniform as the others smiled

"And then there's this" Batman looked to the case with Icon that Artemis had gotten "Bio-gene integrated with some form of Nano-circuitry"

Icon got one of the pieces out "Though I am unfamiliar with this species the Bio component is clearly not of earth"

"We'll take it to the watchtower for further study" Batman announced a the league members moved to the Zeta-tubes but rocket stopped Icon before he got the them

"Congratulations on the league thing sorry I skipped out"

"Yes well we both seem to have found teams that suit us"

Black Canary set a hand on Icon's should "We should get going too don't wanna miss the league's induction party" and with that they both left through the zeta tubes

"You realize that the mission was a trap" Black bat began

"Yes, Cheshire and Riddler were tipped and ready for us" Aqualad agreed

"Not the mole thing again" Artemis groaned

"Mole thing? Again?" Rocket asked

"We had Intel that there was a traitor on the team" Kid Flash explained

"Namely Artemis, M'gann, or me but Roy did suspect Black bat too" Superboy walked up

"Black bat? But he was the first protégé why would he be the traitor?"

"League issues" Zatanna sighed as Dick looked away

"It is more complicated than that "Aqualad stepped up and put a hand on Conner's shoulder put his flicked it off and began walking away "but your recent behavior does concern me, your attack on mammoth nearly got artemis killed"

Superboy was ignoring until he got a message for Luthor _"Superboy I believe you used up the last of your shields, I have more meet me outside of prisca"_

"Superboy?" Aqualad asked

"There's something I need to do"

oOo

Superboy rode to Prisca on Sphere

"Welcome Superboy" Luthor walked up with two women "I'd like to introduce you to associate queen bee"

"My pleasure" She smirked

"I believe you know everyone else" He motioned the others walking up behind him "Sportsmater,Mercy, Blockbuster and some of our newest members who have gotten permission from Bane to be here" Luthor motioned behind superboy

Conner turned to see a group of people in the armor that Kid Flash had described when he was delivering the heart to the girl 'There are more of them?'

"Considerations?" Luthor asked

"So the injustice league was just a distraction, you two have been behind everything from the start"

Luthor grinned "Tch a flattering notion son, but we have many friends" A helicopter flew up behind them and landed next to all of them

"This one of your friends now?" Superboy asked

"No my boy one of yours"

The doors opened to reveal Cheshire with Artemis and her eyes widened when she saw conner

"Artemis?"

Both girls walked over to join their father "The hero thing wasn't working out, all you get out is no trust, this is where I belong" Lance put a hand on her shoulder

"It's a fast growing club" Queen Bee motioned to the Bio-ship coming over too and Miss Martian came out to stand beside her

"Why are they here?" she asked and turned to bee "You promised"

"I've kept your secret and my promise, now you keep yours" M'gann nodded "Good girl"

"Give me more shields and I'm in too" Luthor walked over to conner and smirked

"My boy you're a terrible liar" Conner gritted and began to walk forward "Red Sun" but he froze

Artemis walked forward "What do you want us to do?"

The villains looked at each other before sportsmaster spoke up "You two come with me" Motioning to the female heroes

"What about superboy?" M'gann asked

"He'll be fine he simply requires a few adjustments" Queen bee smirked

/_flashback/_

"_There's something I need to do, something I need to tell you" Superboy turned to the team "Last month on thanksgiving I went back to Cadmus found a few things out when I was cloned only half the DNA was supermans"_

_Dick lifted an eyebrow_

"_The other half was human that's why I don't have,..will never have full Kryptonian powers"_

_Well that explained some of the questions dick had when he first met superboy _

"_You sure because you sure seemed to have them today?" Wally asked_

_Conner lifted his sleeve showing them the shield "I've been using these..shields they surpress my human DNA I get the flight the heat vision but I think I also get angry well angrier. I'm sorry"_

"_Where did you get those?" Aqualad asked_

"_From my human father, Lex luthor"_

_Dick wasn't all that surprised since luthor was the one who asked the talons to get the DNA from superman meaning he was in charge and would have been the most likeliest candidate to give human DNA but the other team members were shocked_

"_Lex Luthor is your dad?!" Wally yelled_

"_He summoned me to Santa Prisca"_

_/End flashback/_

Superboy was still standing still while the others began walking forward, lex luthor looked over to blockbuster "Bring him along" but as blockbuster was walking over to conner artemis sprang into action firing an arrow at him

_/Flashback/_

"_Ugh" Artemis got the team's attention "Listen, superboy's not the only one suffering from bad DNA" she walked over to the holographic computer and pulled up three images of criminals "My mother is Huntress an ex-con the rest of my family aren't even Ex, my dad's sportsmaster and he's sending my sister Cheshire to fly me to Santa Prisca too"_

"_That's why.." Wally began but she interrupted him_

"_Yeah I was so desperate to make sure none of you found out"_

"_I knew" Black bat announced making her eyes widen "Batman told me the night he went to recruit you with Green Arrow"_

"_Yeah but it doesn't matter anyway you're not your family" _

_Artemis smiled _

_/End Flashback/_

The arrow covered Blockbuster is green foam then turned to her family "Sorry dad wanted to play you like you tried to play me but I can't let them mess with superboy's head"

Queen Bee turned to M'gann _"Megan be a dear_ _and take artemis down" _

Miss Martian turned and levitated artemis in the air just before Sportsmaster could punch her

_/Flashback/_

_Wally set a hand on artemis's shoulder "So who's next"_

"_I am"_

"_I swear I was kidding" Wally held his hands up in shock_

"_Queen bee's been black mailing me, she wants me in Santa Prisca too"_

"_Black mailing how?" Aqualad asked_

"_She knows my true martian form"_

"_Bald M'gann? Who cares if—"_

"_No" m'gann sighed and morphed into the large pink and white creature that was her true form and everyone but Dick and Kaldur were shocked_

"_Whoa" Rocket's eyes widened as some of them backed away_

"_I realized you would never accept me if you saw what I really am"_

"_M'gann did we truly seem that shallow?" Kaldur asked_

"_I couldn't take the chance, being a white Martian among the green on Mars I endured constant rejection I couldn't face that from—"_

"_From me?" Superboy walked up taking one of her hands " I've known sense we mind melded last September in Bialya"_

"_But that was before we even became a couple, why didn't you say anything?"_

"_I felt you'd tell me when you were ready"_

_/End flashback/_

Miss martian turned and used her levitation to knock Queen Bee into the tree behind her knocking her unconscious as artemis fired an arrow at sportsmaster and Cheshire

"_Queen bee is down, Superboy you're safe from her control" _M'gann said

Superboy nodded and began walking over to luthor "May not be much of a liar but I fooled you"

"And I'm so proud I take is Miss martian cleaned Red Sun from your mind?" Luthor asked

"And confirmed Aqualad, Black bat, and Kid Flash rescued me from Cadmus before you had time to install any other programming"

"All true personally I blame " Blockbuster broke out of the hardened Green Foam and rushed as Superboy skidding him across the ground to the edge of a cliff

"A little help?" Luthor turned to the talons and they began shooting but sphere fired up and began shooting at them too but they recovered and began firing at Miss Martian as she flew through the trees

Artemis got another bow ready as her father and sister got up "You have been a very naughty girl" she fired an arrow at him but she knocked it away with his weapon

"_Guys reinforcement time!" _

Rocket flew through the trees and grabbed one of the talons sending him into the trees of the forest around them as kid flash ran out and knocked another off his feet "Oh yeah payback time!" more talons began shooting at him as he ran away

Luthor picked up Queen Bee and turned to mercy "Time to go" he turned as mercy got her arm ready to protect him but aqualad came out of the forest behind them

"Neither you nor Queen bee are going anywhere!"

"Young man if you expect to detain me contact my attorney" Mercy shot aqualad with her laser knocking kaldur away

Dick was shocked to see the talons were in this fight too, he couldn't show himself to them but he had to help his team fight, He hesitated to join the fight seeing the talons were there too, he knew after hearing from Ivo that the talons were back but he didn't expect for them to be here, and it is difficult to attack them with their armor on. He looked among the talons to see if he recognized any of them from the distinctive armor, William had a different style for his armor then the others but didn't see it among them

Maybe William didn't know about Black bat Ivo could have just told him he was alive not about the hero business, he saw the talons were working together to shot at m'gann as she tried to shield herself with rocks

He groaned finally moving in going after the talons landing in front of one and using the hardness of his knuckles to bang the helmet sending him to the ground then kicked another on the side of the neck. A talon came after him from behind with his sword so he got out his bo-staff and used it to block the sword then reaches and grabbed the talon's wrist bringing him forward before kicking him on the head to and then on the chest

Zatanna came to his side and used s spell to turn the talon's swords into sticks so out of anger the talons came after them both knocking them away

Blockbuster still had superboy pinned on the cliff side and was punching him on the chest before punching him hard enough to send him through the ground over the cliff side. Superboy grabbed onto the side to stop him from falling

Aqualad had his water controllers shapped into swords as he turned and heard a helicopter leaving with Lex Luthor, Queen bee, and Mercy in it

Rocket flew up "I got this" rockets flew out of the bottom of the helicopter at her so she had to stop flying in order to put up a shield _"I can still—"_

"_No you are needed here"_

Sportsmaster knocked the bow out of Artemis's hands knocking her to the ground as Cheshire pointed a sword at her head and sportsmaster approached her from behind "You know I don't tolerate disobedience artemis"

Artemis sat up "Sure dad, Jade and I learned that the hard way" she turned to jade just as kid flash came and knocked her away then turned around to go after sportsmaster but lance flipped him into the trees behind him

Zatanna had been knocked to the ground by the talons but they all seemed to be more interested in Black bat surrounding him as he dodged their weapons so she said a spell to even the odds and create copies of him

Black bat used the copies to distract the talons while he moved through them swiftly knocking off the bomb's on their waists safety rings making them begin to beep as he moved away from them. The talons were able to remove the bombs in time but were knocked away from the explosion

One of the talons flipped to his feet "Da inappoi!" he ordered the rest of the talons. Their job was only to be protection for Lex Luthor and he was already goes so there was no point in them staying an longer but before he left after the rest of them he ran up to black bat and grabbed him by the collar

Dick was about to attack when he said something "William nu va fi multumit cu nepotul sau Richard" he then threw him back to the ground and left after the other talons

'Life just hates me doesn't it' Dick sighed he recognized that voice it had been Lucas, William's second in command so he now knew without a doubt William was still alive and knew he was Black bat. As if it was teasing him to add to his torture he began feeling that sharp pain in his chest again and some of his muscles began aching along with it so once the pain was gone he got tired

Superboy climbed back over the cliff and went after blockbuster but was punched to the ground as Miss Martian came and levitated rocks into Blockbuster

"_Superboy, Miss Martian move" _

Red disks came flying at Blockbuster and started electrocuting him with red electricity as Aqualad and Rocket came forward and he banged something to the ground causing it to melt and for blockbuster to sink in

"You should really learn to channel that anger" Superboy looked down at him as he growled but was hit and knocked unconscious

Artemis dodged another of sportsmaster's attacks _"Artemis now!" _She jumped up hanging onto the branch of a tree as the ground below began melting and Sportsmaster sank in so she let go and jumped off his back over to the solid ground

Lance turned to Cheshire for help "Jade!"

"Sorry dad in this family it's every girl for herself" she smirked and disappeared into the forest

"Jade!" sportsmaster turned and narrowed his eyes at artemis before she kicked him knocking off his mask and him unconscious

Wally picked up the mask and walked over to her "Souvenir"

oOo

"It is always like this" Rocket smiled

"Told you" Zatanna agreed

"This has been a good day" Aqualad smiled

_To be continued_

_**Romanian Translation:**_

_**Da inapoi- fall back**_

_**William nu va fi multumit cu nepotul sau Richard- William will not be pleased with his grandson Richard**_

**I've already decided I don't really need to bring in Jason Todd **


	38. Auld Acquaintance

Auld Acquaintance

The team walked toward the mission room

"We have reason feel proud of yesterday's victories but one thing has not changed" Aqualad said

"Our enemies are still receiving inside Intel about the team"

""Yeah but at least we know none of us are the mole" Kid Flash smiled

"That's correct" Batman typed in a few commands "The mole was Red Arrow" pulling up his image

"Roy no way!" Wally argued

"Batman that cannot be he was Green Arrow's protégé, we have all known him for years" Kaldur added

"Unfortunately the Roy Harper we have all known for the last three years is another project Cadmus clone" Red Tornado informed them

"We've learned that the real speedy was abducted and replaced immediately after becoming Green Arrow's sidekick" Batman brought up an image of speedy "The clone was preprogrammed with a drive to join the justice league which is why he was so angry about any delays to his admission and why he refused to join the team, this Roy Harper had no idea he was a clone or a traitor and his subconscious programming drove him to become league worthy so he struck out on his own as Red Arrow. When he was finally admitted his secondary programming kicked in and he attempted to betray the league to vandal savage. Fortunately I had already deduced Red Arrow was a clone we were prepared"

"Savaged was subdued" Red Tornado continued "But Red Arrow escaped, he is now a fugitive armed and dangerous"

"If you guys hadn't rescued me from Cadmus" Conner rubbed the back of his neck

"What…what happened to the real roy?" Wally asked

"We don't know he isn't at Cadmus, we have to face the possibility that the real Roy Harper is dead"

"The clone Roy, the team will find him" Kadlur offered

"Negative, Red Arrow's a member of the Justice League now, leave him to us" Batman turned off the holographic computer then pressed his com-link "I'm needed on the Watchtower" Turning to Red Tornado "Tornado stay with the kids"

Black bat narrowed his eyes at that statement, his father never called them kids. Come to think about it neither of his parents had come home last night and hadn't seen them the next morning either

_RECOGNIZED: BATMAN 02_

Kaldur turned to the team _"Clone or no clone, Red Arrow is one of us we will go after him" _Red Tornado approached him from behind but them shut off. The team turned to him ins surprise

"_Tornado?" _M'gann asked

"_What happened?" _Conner asked

"_He's totally powered down" _Wally saw

"_All functions are offline" _Black bat looked him over with his holographic computer

"_Guy's I'm sensing a low level mystic force at play, I don't know if it caused his shut down but now that I think about it I was getting the same buzz of Batman" _Zatanna turned to her boyfriend seeing he was narrowing his eyes

Black bat knew something was wrong with the behavior of his dad but now Red Tornado added to the suspicion "_Look" _Kid flash got something from his hand

"_One of the Bio-chip thing's we confiscated from Cheshire_"

"_Something is not right" _Kaldur thought "_Black bat, Kid, Zatanna, Rocket see if you can get tornado back online the rest with me to see if we can find Ro…Red Arrow" _

"_The problem is the hardware not Software" _Black bat told the remaining members

Zatanna stepped up and looked toward Tornado's apartment "I have a thought"

oOo

The team connected a cord from Red Tornado's head to the humanoid Android's head "Downloading progress"

"So Tornado built this android…to party?" Rocket asked

"Not how he put it but yeah more or less" Zatanna said as the zeta tubes lite up behind them

_RECOGNIZED: BLACK CANARY 13, BATWOMAN 17_

"Hey guys wanted to check in see how you're handling the—" Dinah stopped when they saw the scene before them "What are you doing to Red?"

"It's not how it looks" Wally assured them

Selina crossed her arms "It looks like your downloading his consciousness into a new body"

Wally and Dick looked to the screen to see the download was completed "Ok it's pretty much what it looks like but—"

The android rode from the bed and yelled "Team get out of the cave now!" but before they could Black Canary let out her screech as Batwoman fired a few Batarrangs at them causing the legs and some of the face of the android to tear off

Dick knew his mother would never attack him so figured they were somehow under another control, he jumped out from behind the bed and went at Selina trying to punch her but she grabbed his wrist and pulled him to the ground behind her flipping over him then throwing him toward the zeta tubes

Kid flash ran by and knocked black canary toward batwoman when they noticed a small device on her shoulder just before it let out a green smoke, Rocket created a shield around the both of them so they couldn't escape from it and soon both of them were knocked unconscious

"Black Canary and Batwoman attacked us?" Zatanna asked

"They are the least of our problems" RT was still functioning "We must abandon the cave"

Black Bat and Zatanna went to get Sphere in her vehicle form just as the Zeta tubes lit up again

_RECGONIZED: ICON 20, DOCTOR FATE 18, CAPTAIN MARVEL 15 _

There was no one in the cave once the zeta tubes finished transporting them

oOo

The team had escaped the cave in Sphere's vehicle form with Black Canary and Batwoman tied up in the back. "Stay off your radio's and let the super cycle track Superboy, instruct her to mask all signals we cannot allow the league to track us"

"Right of course just one question, What is the Justice League after us?!" wally yelled

"The entire league is under the complete domination of Vandal Savage, Red Arrow seems to have been his means, his method, when something savage seems to refer to as staro-tech an alien bio-organism infused with nano-technology and magic it shuts down the minds autonomy allowing savage to re-program the individual to suit his needs even my inorganic brain was not immune but the process requires 0.16 nano seconds to fully integrate with its host nervous system. That delay allowed me to create an internal subprogram which would disconnect my power cells if I attempted to infect another person. Fortunately the staro-tech is body specific and as John Smith I am now free of outside control"

"This staro-tech it worked on super powered humans, four different species of alien, an android, and Doctor Fate defeating all of you with no resistance?" Black bat asked

"Indeed a remarkable achievement one not easily countered"

oOo

"_Miss martian are you in range?"_

"_Yes Black bat linking both squads and de-camouflaging"_

"_Great because we seriously need to compare notes" _Wally inputted as the super-cycle entered the back of the bio-ship and the Female Justice Leaguers regained consciousness

oOo

_RECONGIZED: BLACK CANARY 13, BATWOMAN 17, RED TORNADO 16, RED ARROW 21 _

"Any problems?" Vandal asked as some of the original seven justice leaguers continued to stand still around them like statues

"Despite an initial setback we were able to re-infect Red Tornado and Red Arrow" Batwoman reported

"As well as the entire team" Red Tornado added

"They await reprogramming back on earth" Black Canary finished

"I think not, you see Staro-tech does not reprogram the mind it offers us remote control of it" Vandal turned to Klarion

"We know exactly who's infected and who's not and none of you are!"

Their eyes widened just before Green Lantern stepped in and subdued them with his ring

"But that is easily rectified" Vandal smirked "50,000 years of life and nothing ever troubled me as much as the founding of the Justice League" he walked up to Batwoman grabbed her head "Dedicated to maintaining society stultified status quo" Turning her head to the side

Over behind Vandal Batman made no move to help Selina and continued to stand completely still

Vandel attacked another Staro-tech chip to her neck making in fuse in "The league will protect man kind from disaster, crime, tragedy of any kind have you never heard of the survival of the fittest in essence you heroes sought to protect humanity from its own glorious evolution as such you forced my own enlighten colleagues and myself to organize a response, we created or corrupted a network of operatives, placed key individuals in key places, made certain we were on the cutting edge of new technology, genetic engineering, Bio-chemical engineering, Robotics, Nano-robotics even techno-sorcery not to mention every conceivable method of mind control. Cold hard science, a little misdirection and now you champions of stagnation have come oration of change causing the human race to evolve on a more advanced schedule allowing the earth to take its rightful place at the center of the cosmos "

oOo

Miss Martian joined the rest of the team in the bottom of the Watchtower

"_Red Tornado succeeded, wireless and bypass security severed as soon as he arrived, Savage shouldn't know we arrived" _Black bat turned the team

"_Move out" _Aqualad ordered

They first went after Plastic man firing an arrow at one of the crates he was moving and as soon as he extended his head Kid Flash ran behind him and attached the chip to the back of his neck making him fall unconscious

Hawkman was walking down a hallway when he stopped and looked behind him just before superboy punched him making him skid make, as he was preparing to attack Miss Martian floated down behind him and attached the chip to the back of his neck making him fall unconscious

While the atom was cutting pieces of Staro-tech Zatanna said a spell to make the piece float up so that he would grow a bit to get it and Miss Martian came up behind him in Cameo-mode attaching a chip to his back making him fall unconscious

Rocket formed a sphere around Captain atom so he punched ti to try and get free as Aqualad landed behind him, Rocket let the shield down as he used a water whip to attack a chip to the back of his neck making him fall unconscious

oOo

"The brats are aboard" Klarion moaned looking to his screen to see more and more members were being cured "They've taken away four of my toys"

"It's time to put these children in their place once and for all" Savage turned to the Original Justice League members surrounding the room

"Finally!" Klarion cheered, Teekle meowed on his shoulder "Oh yeah vandal shouldn't those four be back online by now?"

"What?!" Vandal turned just as Black Canary let out her screech forcing Green Lantern into the pillar behind him and Red Tornado sent a tornado at vandal while Red arrow ran over and attached a chip to the back of Green Lanterns neck and Batwoman ran to do the same to Hawkgirl

"You'll be sorry!" Klarion commanded for the justice leaguers to finally move and fight

Black canary sent another screech out at the Heroes but Martian Manhunter just phased through her and Wonder Woman knocked her unconscious. Red Arrow fired a flaming arrow at Martian manhunter weakening him a bit causing him to collapse but he soon recovered and attacked him

Batwoman fired at batarang at Batman but he deflected it and ran at her grabbing her head and kneeing her in the face knocking her to the ground, Red tornado tried to help but Green lantern grabbed him letting superman and wonder woman tear off his arms and legs. With RT down all four of them were knocked unconscious

"The children have clearly reverse engineered a staro-tech cure and vaccine" Vandal observed "So there's no point in taking them alive"

"Goody" Klarion grinned

oOo

_RECONGNIZED: CAPTAIN MARVEL 15, ICON 20, DOCTOR FATE 18_

Right above them Miss Martian was floating in Camouflage mode and sent three chips down at them successfully attaching one to Doctor Fate but the other two got defensive when he collapsed. Icon fired a blast destroying the other two chips then sending m'gann into the wall above her

Rocket came up behind Icon and attached a chip to his next making him fall unconscious. Captain marvel flew at Zatanna but she said a spell making him say 'Shazam' causing him to turn into his 10 year old form and collide with her

"_Too bad cure tech doesn't work at fast as staro-tech we could use these guys" _Rocket looked to the three unconscious members

"_It is a small miracle queen Mira and Doctor Roquette's Spence and vocal were able to engineer a vaccine at all" _Aqualad told her

"_Hey if you guys aren't busy—" _Wally asked

"_On my way, you three rendezvous with Black Bat and Superboy _"With that Aqualad ran out of the room

Zatanna turned to the other two girl _"I'll be right behind you" _ and they flew out so she looked down to Doctor Fate walking to him and grabbing the helmet but it sent shockwaves out at her so she said a spell to try and remove it but it had no effect instead sending its own lighting back at her

Billy ran over to her "I can save fate from savage but I still can't save my father from fate"

oOo

Wonder Woman threw her lasso toward Black bat but Rocket created a shield around him to protect him, Diana took her lasso back so Dick looked to Raquel _"Now" _ a shield was created around Wonder Woman trapping her inside

"_Can she escape?" _He asked while going over to green lantern and attaching a chip to the back of his neck

"_Not if she keeps punching it the kinetic energy only makes it stronger but I'm stuck here anything I do risks freeing her" _Right above her batman came down and tried to attack her so Black bat tried to stop him but instead Bruce grabbed his ankle and tossed him aside then turned to punch rocket

Rocket had already flown into the sky so Batman turned to see Black bat getting up narrowing his eyes and sending his fist into his hand. Dick was already getting tired but knew he had to cure his father too so he threw a couple of smoke bombs toward him and then tried to kick him through the smoke but was instead punched in the side

Superman punched Superboy in the jaw then on the cheek sending him into the wall beside them so while he was recovering Sphere came and knocked Martian manhunter away while Wolf attacked Superman but he was thrown away too just as sphere came back and landed on top of him. Superman lifted her up and threw her toward the ceiling as superboy came at him from behind

Miss Martian approach J'onn from behind in camouflage mode but he grabbed her before she could do anything and morphed himself to face her _"Sorry uncle J'onn you leave me no choice" _ She morphed into her Martian form and made him feel like he was surrounded by fire causing him to fall unconscious while she attacked a ship to his neck

Superman punched her into the wall behind her and out of rage Superboy came at him again from behind but he was punching into the flooring sending him through it and through the one below that. Black bat was now losing his breath and sweating a bit as he flipped away from batman and dodged a few of his punches but ended up being kicked in the side sending him skidding across the ground so he flipped back to his feet getting out two erisma sticks coming back at batman

Batman deflected all of Black bat's attacks then grabbed his leg sending him behind him. Black bat got back to his feet and turned to where Bruce had been but he wasn't there so turned just as Batman punched him through the hole in the floor

He fell next to superboy but got back to his feet to catch his breath because now he could feel the sharp pains in his chest again "We're not going to defeat them one on one!"

"Plan B then!" they looked up to see Superman and Batman jump off the floor above them and come toward them so Superboy grabbed Black bat's hands and swung him around before throwing him up in the air colliding him with batman into the wall

As they were falling Black Bat attached a chip to the back of Batman's neck and checked to make sure he was alright when they landed on the ground. Superboy came up and grabbed Superman from behind then forced him into the wall as Black bat approached them with a small box from his belt

"Are you positive about this?"

"Do it!" Superboy groaned trying to keep hold of superman

Dick nodded opening the box of kryptonite and showing it to them causing both of them to collapse, Black bat attached a chip to the back of Superman's neck and closed the box putting it back in his belt

"ugh kryptonite that hurts" Conner groaned while black bat helped him to his feet but he noticed how exhausted black bat looked "you alright?" He had never seen him so tired

"Fine just need to catch my breath" he felt his fist against his chest as he caught his breath and the pain began lowering to a minimum

oOo

Vandel Savage watched through a screen as Miss Martian came to help Rocket with Wonder Woman "Time to go"

"Come on we can still take them "

"Yes but in the process you'd lose control, perhaps even destroy this station and whether or not they're in our trawl the light still needs the Justice League alive for phase two"

"I wouldn't lose control" klarion huffed as he floated down to the ground and teekle meowed "Ok yeah I bring the chaos" opening a portal behind him and taking him and Vandal inside it

Kid flash tried to catch them but the portal disappeared just as he almost reached it

"Congratulations team, you have won the day" Red Tornado told them from his position on the ground as the rest of the team came to join them

A holographic screen appeared before them: _HAPPY NEW YEAR JUSTICE LEAGUE _while some music played in the background

Wally picked artemis up in his arms "I should have done this a long time ago"

"No kidding" She responded as they kissed

Conner and M'gann turned to each other and kissed. Zatanna smiled over to Black bat grabbing him by the shoulder pulling him over to her and kissing him, he was surprised at first but went with it. Raquel went over to kaldur "Liking this team more everyday" and kissed him

"Human customs still elude me" Red Tornado commented

oOo

Aquaman, Aqualad, Batman, Batwoman, Black bat, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Red Tornado, and Captain Marvel joined Red Arrow at the table of the Watchtower meeting room

"Everything I thought I knew about myself was a lie, I'm not a hero or a sidekick. I'm a traitor a pawn"

"Roy it'll be—" Black canary tried to comfort him

"I'm not Roy, I don't know what I am all I know is that I have to find the real Roy Harper, I need to rescue speedy" Green Arrow looked away

"Guardian is already searching Cadmus" Batman assured him

_To be continued_


	39. Deteriorating

**I want to give a thanks to one of my reviewers that helped me a lot with this chapter because I am horrible at this type of stuff, thanks again: Sairey13**

Deteriorating

"Well, class, I sure hope that you've all had a wonderful Christmas Break. Now that we've entered the Third Quarter, we need to speed up on our lessons and prepare ourselves for the CST." As a response to the teacher mentioning the California Student Test, which is still a few months away, nearly every students reply was "Aww!", while a few muttered "Damn it" and some whispered "Kill me".

Amongst the students, Richard Wayne simply slumped himself in his seat let stared up at the ceiling, letting out a deep sigh in a way to express how bored he is of his Calculus Class.

'Why am I still here, doing Calculus, when I should be figuring out where the real Roy is being held and what Vandal Savage was doing to the League for sixteen hours?' He asked himself, his teacher began their lesson with "Lesson 16: Derivatives of Logs and Exponential Functions". 'I swear to god, if Bruce and Selena hadn't signed me up to complete in the mathematic competition or had told me to not overachieve in any of my classes to prevent anybody from figuring out I'm Black Bat, then I would've already finished this class in just a whole School Quarter!' Letting out another sigh, he went into note taking on what his teacher's writing down on the board, even though he already understood what the lesson is about.

Right when they moved on down to the "Definition of Logarithm", out of nowhere and for no reason, Richard's eyes blurred up and, without him fully realizing it, began to lean to the right as if gravity was pushing down to his right to make him fall out of his seat.

Sitting at his left, Barbra looked up from her own note taking when she heard Richard's chair letting out a slow creaking sound and turned her head to face him, seeing her friend leaning off to the right of his chair and slowly sliding off of his seat. She also noticed on how pale his skin has gotten and his eyes, which were still staring down, don't appear to be focused at all and they almost look like they've gone a dull-blue color than their original Cerulean/Sapphire coloring.

Feeling concerned and worried that there's something wrong with the boy, she sat her pencil down and placed her hand on his shoulder. Right before she could speak his name, her touch, alone, shocked the boy back to reality and found himself hanging off on the right-side of his seat.

'Agh! What the hell?!'He cried in his thoughts, jumping out of his seat and falling to the ground when his legs got tangled with the chairs.

The students, who were taking notes, turned their attention on the fourteen year-old and laughed. The teacher, who heard the sound of a chair falling out of its place, ceased her writing on the board and saw Richard Wayne on the ground, looking rather dazed and confused on what just happened. Barbara got out of her seat and helped her friend off the ground, while the rest of the students continued on laughing.

"Enough, class!" The teacher ordered her students, as she made her way to the two students, who tipped the boy's chair back on its legs and retook their seats in their chairs. "Mr. Wayne, would you be so kind as to tell me, why you've disrupted my class with whatever you were doing that caused you to fall to the floor?"

Embarrassed and uncertain on how to answer his teacher's question, Richard could only come up with a lame excuse he could think up at this time.

"I, uh... Dropped my pencil?" A few seconds of silence later, and the students once again laughed at his made up excuse... Every student except for Barbara Gordon, who knew that he was lying to the teacher, because she saw his pencil still being held in his hand before he fell out of his chair. She wasn't sure why, but she can tell that there's something's wrong with her friend and the paleness of his skin only added up to her worry for his wellbeing.

The teacher, who had to raise her voice to silence the laughter of her remaining students, didn't look amused or pleased by his answer, for many of her students had used the 'dropped pencil' excuse many times as an excuse to avoid getting in trouble for having her lessons to be interrupted. However, because she had her back turned the whole time and was too focused on giving out notes for her students, that she couldn't really prove that Richard is indeed lying about the pencil being dropped in a way to avoid getting his parents a call from school about his disruption in class and has no choice but to accept his answer to how and why he fell out of his chair.

"Well, Mr. Wayne, I do hope that you won't let another incident of a dropped pencil to disrupt my class, ever again. Another disruption like that, again, and I'll be informing your parents about your distraction in class. Do I make myself clear?" With that being said and earning a nod as her answer from the fourteen year-old, the teacher made her way back to the front of the class to the board and continued on with the lesson.

For the rest of Calculus, no interruptions had been made and the lesson went off without a hitch. Although, there were a few minor setbacks during the lesson, all of which had Richard involved which. In two of the setbacks, the teachers has called for him to answer a few questions on the board, which he was too distracted to noticed by the blur blocking his vision and trying to rub them out of his eyes until his teacher had to scream his name to get his attention. And on the three remaining setbacks, Barbara barely saved him from falling out of his chair, since he would start tipping over to the right at random time, and was able to prevent him from going over when the chair let out its squeaking sound. She had quietly suggested for him to go to the Nurse's Office and call for home, twice, during the lesson. Stubbornly, he simply refused to heed her help, told her to not worry and that he was alright, and continued on doing his work assignment.

By the time class ended, more than half of the students ended up with homework for not being able to complete the assignment. Richard, who kept himself quiet for the remainder of math and still a bit embarrassed to speak to anyone, finished his work seconds before class ended, slightly stumbling his way back to his desk to grab for his backpack and head out the door for next period. Barbara, coming up from behind, knew that it wasn't like him to turn in work assignment so late, when he had always been the first to always have his work turned in before anybody else in the classroom were even halfway done with the assignment.

"Dick, are you sure that you're feeling okay?" She asked her friend, walking beside him and seeing the paleness in his skin hadn't gone away. "You're looking a bit pale... Well, paler than you normally do." She reached a hand out to feel his forehead, checking if he was coming down with a fever that would give her an answer on what condition he's in. Avoiding her touch, Richard gave her a tired smile.

"Don't worry about me, Babs." He told his friend. "I'm fine, just didn't get enough sleep last night, because I was up doing my homework. Nothing to worry about." His words didn't bring any sort of comfort to the redhead, who didn't believe a word to what he just said to her. However, not wanting to cause distress to her friend, she decided to drop it, for now.

"If you're sure..." However, deep down inside of her and as they head for their next class, she knew that Richard was far from fine and that today was going to get much worse.

With fourth period finally finished and half of the school session for today ended, Richard, Kevin and Julie, who both have the same fourth period class with the fourteen year-old, head for the tables where they and their friends always sat in to eat their food. There, they were greeted by Barbara, Lewis, Bette and, their newest addition to the group, Artemis. Richard had to hold back a groan when he saw one of his teammate is sitting with him and his only citizen friends.

Yes, Artemis has finally brought herself to forgive Black Bat for almost killing her father, Lawrence "Crusher" Crock, better known as Sportsmaster to the Team and League. And yes, she has also come to accept him as her family, just as she did with the rest of the team, and no longer sees him as any sort of threat, let alone a killer, like he was trained to be by the Talons. However, for Richard, he still needs to be sure that she doesn't discover Richard Wayne is Black Bat, but today, he wasn't feeling up on doing such a task, especially when he feels drained and could barely keep his head up or see anything clear in front of his face.

Kevin and Julie, who stayed with him during fourth period, which was PE, gave him worried glances from how tired and paled he looked, that they wouldn't be surprised if the fourteen year-old collapsed before them, like he almost did during PE.

For PE, they did some warm ups, ran a few laps around the tracks and played some indoor hockey... And boy, was he not on his A Game today: During the warm ups, he was already gasping for breath after doing ten jumping jacks, ended up almost last to finish his runs for having to stop for breath every twelve seconds or fall to his knees for tripping over nothing. As for indoor hockey, he stayed benched for most of the game from telling their PE teacher a lame excuse that he's suffering from heat exhaustion, even though that it's still Winter and too cold for anybody to get heat exhaustion. And when he would go out and play, he would either lose the puck to the other team when they would ram him aside and leave him slowly picking himself off the ground or would miss hitting the puck to the goal from his blurred vision making him see double.

Kevin and Julie, who were on the same team with him, knew that something is indeed wrong with their friend, for he was the best player to have on their team when playing sports and always seems like he could play all day and rarely asks for a break to rest up. However, today, he asked for a break six times during the second and fourth quarter of the game, and the PE teacher almost sent him to the Nurse's Office to get some rest and have the office call Wayne Manor to pick him up, but the boy was able to convince his teacher to not tell the Principal to call home by telling him a lie about phoning home during lunch.

And so, here they are, sitting at the table and eating lunch, with Richard not keeping his word about calling his parents or Alfred to come get him... Actually, instead of eating lunch like the rest of them, the fourteen year-old simply kept his head down on the table and hadn't made a budge to grab for his lunch, which the boy didn't bring anything for lunch at all. Julie, who sat at his right, place a hand on his back and gave him a few pat.

"Dick? You okay?" She asked, gaining no answer or response from the fourteen year-old. Kevin, sitting at the boy's left, decided to help Julie get an answer from their friend.

"C'mon, man, don't feel down." He said, lightly nudging Richard's arm with his elbow "Just because you didn't have your A Game today, doesn't mean that it's the end of the world and for you to get all quiet about it." Again, Richard didn't say anything back to his friends nor did he nudge Kevin back.

"He wasn't on his A Game today?" Barbara asked, having that fear building up inside of her chest again from what she just heard.

"Nope. In fact, he was so not on his A Game, that Albert Trent was doing way better than he was at indoor hockey." Kevin informed the guys, who all seemed stunned that their athletic friend would end up becoming the worst player on the team than Albert Trent, the least athletic person in school.

"Damn, he was really that bad, today?" Artemis asked, not believing that she would ever see a day where Richard Wayne would not be at his best in sports.

"...I wouldn't really say 'bad'. I would say more like 'panting like a dog in a Summer's heat wave' and 'having an asthma attack every twelve seconds to two minutes, even when not up and moving around', to best describe his performance in PE." Scared from what Julie just said, Barbara sat up from her seat and came up behind the fourteen year-old, grabbing for his shoulders and pulling his face off of the table.

"Dick, what's going on? Are you getting sick?" She asked the boy, who had his head resting on his chest and still refused to answer his heads. "Dick, this isn't funny!" She shook the teen back and forth. "Richard Wayne, you answer me right now and tell me what's going on!"

"Wh...! Wha...?!" Jerking his head up, Richard sat himself from the table, only to fall back when Barbara pulled him back and the both of them fell to the ground. Kevin and Julie, stunned at what just happened, helped the both of them off the ground and guided the teen back into his feet, looking more dazed and confused at what just happened. "Jeez, Babs, what was that for?!"

"You're lucky that I didn't whack you upside the head, for not head butting into my face!" The redhead yelled back at her friend, glaring at the teen. "What I want to know is why you weren't talking to us when we asked if you were okay!"

"...You guys were talking to me?" He asked, surprising the small group with his question.

"You... Didn't hear us talking to you?" Bette asked the boy.

"No... I must've dozed off."

"Dozed off? I think you were sleeping, rather than dozing off, Dick." Artemis confirmed.

"Huh... Guess I must've been more tired than I thought."

"I think it's more than just being tired, dude." Kevin suggested. "You were off your A Game, and I mean way off, and you look ready to pass out at any second." Julie placed a hand on Richard's forehead, wincing from the light burning she feels on his pale skin.

"Dick, you should probably go to the Nur-"

"No." He interrupted Julie. "I already told you guys, I'm fine. I didn't get much sleep last night, that's all. Nothing to freak out about, alright? All I need are some goodnight sleep and I'll be good as new."

"Dick, you're sick." Barbara told the fourteen year-old. "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way: You can go to the Nurse's Office like you should've done earlier today, and have the office call for Alfred or your parents to come pick you up. Or, we can personally drag you to the office and tell the principal what happened. Your pick."

Richard went silent, crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared down at his arm, which his watch told him that lunch was about to be over. His perfect scapegoat.

"Well, I wish I could stay and chat with you guys, but there's just one problem."

"Oh, really?" Artemis asked, glaring him down with her own warning glare. "And just what would that might be?" Just as she finished her sentence, the lunch bell went off, signaling all students to head for their next period class.

"Lunch is over and we gotta go to next period. So, I'm staying put in school." With that being said, he made a grip grab for his backpack and ran as fast as he could from their lunch table, leaving his worried and confused friends behind, with Artemis feeling something strange is going on with Richard.

oOo

In sixth period, Richard found himself watching a documentary video in Health, while taking notes at the same time about one man who would eat nothing but McDonald's food for thirty days straight.

Just like the Mathematic Competition, Bruce and Selina also signed him up for Health, so that they would make him see how important eating healthy is and why he mustn't eat fast food meals all the time, even though that he already knew this stuff and rarely eats any fast food meals at all. Rather than having him see how important food is, however, it just made the boy feel sick to his stomach. And, luckily for him, he wasn't the only one who was getting sick of the "Supersize Me" video.

Right when they got to the man getting sick from eating his second day meal and throwing up out of the car, the teacher paused the movie when the classroom phone went off. The students and Richard finally caught themselves a break from the tormenting video of McDonald literally killing them, as the teacher talked on the phone.

'Urg... Maybe I should've listened to Barbara about heading to the Nurse's Office and call Alfred to come pick me up.' He thought to himself, rubbing his eyes to get the blur out of his vision and drowsiness he's been feeling. 'Okay, seriously, what the hell is wrong with me?! First the blurred vision, then it was gasping for air, and then falling asleep! What's next, blacking out and fainting?!'

"Richard Wayne? Pack up, you're being signed out." The teacher's voice broke through his train of thoughts, looking rather stunned and surprised that his prayer has actually been answered.

"What?" He asked the teacher, slowly getting out of his seat and collecting his stuff into his backpack.

"You're being signed out. The office received a call from your mother that she's coming to pick you up for some appointment. They want you to wait for her at the office."

'Appointment? I don't have an appointment! Why would she li-?' Immediately, he already figured out why his mother lied about taking him to an appointment and for taking him out of school early. 'Babs... Should've known she would be behind this... I'm not sure if I should be grateful, or pissed for calling Mom to come get me for no reason.' "Oh, right. Must've forgotten that I had a check up today. Well, better not keep her waiting."

With his backpack swung over his right-shoulder, he made his way out of class and silently strode down the hallway, letting out a sigh of breath on not having to stay to watch the rest of the most lost of appetite video he ever seen in his life.

On his way to the office, he met up with Barbra and Artemis, who were out of class to print out some worksheets for their science class, though Richard had a hunch that Barbara tagged along to be sure that the fourteen year-old made it to the office.

Five minutes later, Selena Wayne came running into the office and when her eyes zeroed in on her son, she stride over to the boy and pulled him into a bear hug.

"Ack! Mom!" Richard yelped, feeling pain coursing through his body from the mighty grip of his mother's hug. Getting a good view of the mother embracing her son, Barbra and Artemis giggled at the sight, that makes them think Selena's hugging a nine or a ten year-old instead of a fourteen year-old teenager. Richard blushed from the sound of his friends laughing and tried to pull himself free from his mother's hug. "Mom, you're embarrassing me in front of my friends!"

Selina released her son from her hold, glaring down at him and tapping her foot.

"Well, good." She told the teenager. "I hope that they've enjoyed watching your own mother embarrassing you at school." She then pointed a finger to the door. "Get to the car, and don't you even think about talking back at me or talk your way into staying for the rest of school. Be glad that I'm not your father and that I came alone to come get you, young man."

Knowing that she means serious business, especially when she address to him as "young man", Richard kept his mouth shut and made his way out of the office, heading for the safety of his mother's car and silently thanking Heaven that Bruce didn't tag along, or else he would be in serious trouble and would get a serious lecture for keeping his condition a secret from him, Selina and Alfred.

With her son out of sight, Selena turned to the two girls and gave them a kind smile.

"Thanks for the call, Barbra." She thanked the redhead. "Though I don't always enjoy taking my son out of school when not given the whole detail on him behaving strangely at school, I sure enjoy embarrassing him in public."

Barbra and Artemis, who finally finished their laughing at their youngest friend being smothered by his mother, both stared worriedly at each other, then back to the confused mother of Richard Wayne, before the Commissioner's daughter decides to fill her in on what's been going on.

"Uh, actually... His strange behavior... It's actually more like 'hiding the fact that he's sick and making up unexplainable excuses to avoid going to the Nurse's Office and getting the school to home to pick him up', than behaving differently than he normally does."

"Sick? What would make you think that he's ill?" Selina asked, feeling knots building up inside her and her motherly instincts kicking in.

"Well, you see, Mrs. Wayne. During Calculus, we were taking notes on Logarithm when, for some odd reason, he was tipping himself over to the right and slowly falling out of his seat... He had a dazed expression on his face and he didn't seem to realize he was falling out of his seat until I touched his shoulder. And even when he came back to his senses, he jumped out of his seat and fell to the ground. After that and while we were working on our worksheet, he would squint his eyes, as if he was having trouble reading what was on the people."

"Then there was the situation in PE." Artemis butted in. "Kevin and Julie were with him during fourth period and, from what they told us, he was having trouble breathing the whole period, like he was having an asthma attack, and sat out for most of indoor hockey, after coming up with some lame excuse that he had heat exhaustion."

"...He was having trouble breathing?" Selina asked, feeling horror flooding through her heart. 'Is there some sort of health condition he has that Bruce and I don't know about?'

"I'm afraid so, Mrs. Wayne... He also dowsed off to sleep during lunch. He told us that he didn't get much sleep last night, because he had to finish his homework, but we think it could be something else that's preventing him from getting any sleep... We're not completely certain, but we think could be an insomniac."

Though she appears calm on the outside, Selina's already beyond freaked out on the inside and is taking all of her patience and will to not run out of the office and get to her child.

"An insomniac?" 'Oh god, please don't tell me that he's sick!' "He seemed just fine this morning."

"We thought so, too, when he came to school... Guess he's been trying to keep it a secret, for some reason."

"Hmm... Well, thanks for the information, girls." Selina thanked, as she turned and made her way to the door. "Now that I know what this whole situation is about, my husband and I are going to be keeping a certain somebody in bed for the next few days."

"Goodbye, Mrs. Wayne. Tell Dick that we hope he gets better soon!" Barbra bid adieu to the young mother, while Artemis simply waved farewell until the Wife of Bruce Wayne was out of site.

Once she was out, Selina head for the car and got in to the driver's seat. Without saying a word to Richard, who sat in the passenger seat, she drove the both of them to Wayne Manor.

oOo

"And so, after playing Twenty Questions with Batwoman, three times, for a good fifteen minutes and then playing 'doctor' for another ten minutes, she finally allowed me to head for Mount Justice. Now, here I am, fixing up the cave's heater that Kid Impulsive damaged from cranking it to the max and waiting for everyone else to get out of school and join me for training, before Batman comes in and take me away to play another game of Twenty Questions."

On the other line of Black Bat's communicator, Zatanna let out heartfelt laugh on what her boyfriend just told her, which somehow gotten the fourteen year-old to smile at the sound of her bell-like laughter, as he used a wrench to tighten one of the heater's metal nuts to close its lid when he found that the problem was one of the fuse had burnt out and just needed replacing with a newer fuse.

"Sorry to hear the torment you've been put through, Black Bat. Be glad that she didn't hug you or go all 'Mommy Bats' in front of the bad guys, when it's your civilian friends she embarrassed you in front of. If it were your enemies, they'll never take you seriously ever again."

"Yeah, like they'd never taken me serious before." He stated, still feeling annoyed when his mother kept asking nonsense questions while they were heading back to Wayne Manor.

She kept on asking the same questions over and over, where were: "Are you feeling okay?", "Did you get enough to eat?", "Have you been sleeping alright, lately?", "How many fingers am I holding up?", "Can you walk on your own?", "Why didn't you tell me or Bruce that you weren't feeling good?"... The list was endless with questions, and he thought she was never going to stop asking him questions when he finally told her that he was simply tired and had promised to turn in early for the night. Heck, even Alfred confirmed that he was merely exhaustion after checking him over and had strongly advised that the fourteen year-old should go to bed early and skip patrol for at least a night or two.

Black Bat pinched the bridge of his nose when he felt the headache rising from hearing the questions repeating themselves over and over inside of his mind, as if they were being played by a broken record player.

'Note to self: Next time Mom freaks out when she thinks or figures out that I'm sick, get a tape to replay her previous questions to me so that I don't have to hear herself repeating them. At least with a tape recorder, I can pause, fast forward or even turn down the volume that won't give me a headache bigger than the one I have right now.'

"...Hey, take it from someone whose dad kept on constantly smothering her." Zatanna then went silent on the other line, which made Richard feel like a complete jerk for bringing up her dad into the conversation.

"I'm sorry, Zatanna. I should've known better than to-"

"Nah, it's okay. You needed to vent and, considering the League still not completely trusting you for reasons I don't know why, I wanted to be that person you can talk to. After all, it's my job as your girlfriend to be there for you when you want to talk about something."

"Zatanna..."

Though the two had been together for a little two months now, Richard still can't believe how lucky he was to have her in his life... And yet, he still questions himself if he's the right man she deserves to have. He's still new to this couple-relationship and still at times, and though he knows that she truly cares for him with all of her heart and that he cares deeply for her, believe she deserves someone better to truly love her than he could give to her. He often wonders why she loves him, out of all the boys in the world, who's been trained to become a killer at the young age of six and to learn that his childhood with the Graysons, was nothing but complete lie.

"Whoops, gotta go, Black Bat! Running a bit late for Geography and I can't have my phone on while in class! I'll see you back at the cave when I get out from school! Love you!"

Before he could reply back, the line went dead and Richard's only companion is the deafening silence of the cave and his tools to help him close the heater.

'...Nice, Dick. Couldn't reply back and tell her "I love you, too"? Some boyfriend you turned out to be.'

Turning off his communicator when he got annoyed with the sound of static, he went back to tightening the last of the metal nuts of the heater, making sure that it'll be tight enough to prevent the hatch from opening. One more tug on the nut and the hatch is completely sealed up, which was a major relief to the fourteen year-old.

"There, that should do it." He told himself, picking himself off the ground and dusting himself off from the dirt that clung to his skin and suit. "Next time, we should install a password to the heater and air conditioner, so that we don't have another repeat like this to happen ever again and to prevent Wally from messing with the cave's system."

Putting the tools back into the toolbox and stretching his limbs to pop them up, Black Bat left the Boiler Room of the cave and made his way to the Mission Room, where he brought up a holographic computer to start up the Training Course. Right when he was about to activate a holographic dummy to become his sparring partner, the sound of paws running caught his hearing and soon found himself pinned down to the floor by Wolf, who was wagging his tail and giving him sloppy licks.

"Alright, Wolf, that's enough! Get off!" Black Bat cried, pushing the canine's head aside to stop him from licking him to death, which he couldn't help but let out a few chuckles from Wolf excited to see him like an oversized puppy. "I'm happy to see you, too, Boy." As he got to his feet, he felt a slight shove from behind and found Sphere has joined in to greet the teenager. "And you, too, Sphere." He gave her a couple of pat on top, earning a purring sound from the New Genesphere.

Immediately remembering that the holographic computer has fade away and seeing that the computer's Training Course has been activated, without the holographic dummy he wanted as his sparring partner, and with both Sphere and Wolf standing in the middle of the arena with him, Black Bat had an idea.

"Wolf, Sphere, can you two spar with me for a moment?" Wolf cocked his head and Sphere let out a few beeping sounds, both wondering why their friend would want them to fight him when he isn't their enemy. Already, Black Bat explained himself. "I need to train to improve my skills, but the guys are still at school. Since you two are here, I was wondering if you guys would be my sparring partners for today." Again, both weren't very certain about his request. "C'mon, you two, just this one time? Nothing bad is going to happen. Besides, if you train with me, it'll help improve your skills, too. Alright?" Wolf and Sphere were still hesitant to do so, but had finally agreed to train with Black Bat. And so, after the three stood on opposite sides of the training ground and the computer count down to zero, the three began fighting.

After a while though Dick begun to become extremely tired like he had during gym class and his vision begun getting hazy until he collapsed

_To be continued_


	40. Diagnosis

Diagnosis

"RECOGNIZED: ZATANNA, B-0-8!"

"Ugh... Can't the computer lower the volume? It's not like we can't hear it or asking for it to make us go deaf." Zatanna grumbled out, rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes and making her way into the cave from the garage of the mountain. "Oh well, at least Black Bat will know that I'm back from school. Hopefully, he's gotten over the embarrassment Batwoman put him through and we can do some sparring, together, while M'gann and Conner take their time getting back to the mountain." She sat her backpack down on the couch, planning on doing her homework once she and Black Bat finish training for a bit. "But first, I need to figure out where my boyfriend is."

As she would expect from a person from the Bat-Clan, Zatanna figured that Black Bat would come lurking out of the shadows once her back is facing the shadows of the cave. However, even if one is trained to blend within the shadows, Zatanna would've first sensed his presence if he was in the same room as she is and right now, she sense nobody but herself in the Living Room.

"Okay... strike down lurking within the shadows off my guessing list," she said to herself. 'But, if he's not hiding in the shadows, then where is he?"

As if to fate had heard her question, an answer came to her. Rolling down the hallway, came Sphere and judging by her screeching motorcycle-like sound, something was bothering her.

"Sphere!" Zatanna cried, walking over to the New Genesphere and placing both hands on top of Sphere to try and calm her down. "What's the matter, girl? Is there something wrong?" Her only answers are a bunch of beeping sounds and screech-like sound.

She wasn't Conner, who would know right away what Sphere's trying to tell him, nor is she a detective like Black Bat, but she can tell that something serious has happened to cause the New Genesphere to become so distraught. Within seconds, Sphere rolled up behind the young magician and began to gently but firmly push her towards the hallway that leads to the Mission Room.

"Uh, Black Bat, I think there's something wrong with Sphere!" Her cry for help was returned with the deafening silence. "Black Bat, I'm not kidding! Sphere's acting strange!" Again, silence was her answer. 'What's going on? Where is he?!'

A couple of shove from Sphere and ten steps down the hallway later, Zatanna heard a sound coming from the direction towards the Mission Room. It was the sound of a canine's whimpering cries of distress, who the girl knew immediately that it was Wolf.

"Wolf?!" She called out, hoping that he would be able to shed some light to Sphere's distraught behavior.

Sounds of claws tapping onto concrete floor echoed down the hall and in seconds, a whimpering and horrified Wolf stood in front of her. His limbs shook, his body quivered and his golden-yellow eyes showed nothing but fear and worry.

"Wolf, you need to calm down!" Zatanna told the canine, holding his face with both her hands and forcing him to stare straight into her eyes. "What's going on, and where's Black Bat?"

Shaking her hands off of his face and still letting out whimpers of fear, Wolf gently grabbed a hold part of her long-sleeve black-shirt with his fangs and, with Sphere's help, ushered her towards the Mission Room... Where, once arriving towards the sight of the Mission Room, laid a figure in the center of the Training Area. And she knew who exactly that figure was, laying on the ground and not moving.

"Black Bat!" She cried, running towards the laid out form of her boyfriend and kneeling beside him, finding him on his stomach and looking as though someone just got him from behind and shoved him to the floor to knock him out. But it wasn't the way he's positioned that worries Zatanna. What truly worries her, is that his skin went pale and that he's gasping for breath, instead of the normal smoothing inhaling for breath.

Turning him on his back, she placed both hands on his chest and tried to wake him up by shaking him.

"Black Bat, what's wrong with you?! Wake up!" She cried out his name, hoping that her sound of her voice would bring him out of his unconscious state. Unfortunately, he remained unresponsive and showed no sign on waking up.

When in a serious situation, Zatanna would use her magic to help fix the problem. However, because she doesn't know what caused the problem and believing that her magic would do more harm than good, she chose to not take the risk on using magic on her boyfriend.

'I need to get help,' she thought to herself. 'But how? I'm still learn on how to use the cave's computer and still can't figure out how to communicate anybody from the League, let alone the Watchtower. Oh, what should I do?!"

"RECOGNIZED: SUPERBOY, B-0-4; MISS MARTIAN, B-0-5!"

Zatanna let out a gasp from the computer's announcing the arrival of Conner and M'gann.

'Conner and M'gann! They're finally here,' she thought to herself. Already thinking up an idea, she turned to stare at the large wolf and New Genesphere. "Wolf, Sphere, get Conner and M'gann over here!" Not having to be told twice, the two made their way down the hallway to get the Martian and half-Kryptonian. "God, I never thought I'd be happy to hear the computer's loud volume." She muttered to herself, as she continued to try and wake Black Bat, from shaking his body to nearly slapping him across the face.

To make matters worse, his breathing became more raspy with each breath he took, that the rough-feeling of his throat causes him to force out dry coughing, which would leave the fourteen year-old wheezing in pain. With him still unconscious and with Zatanna not knowing what to do, all she could do right now is remain by his side and try to make him as comfortable as possible.

"Zatanna? Where are you?" M'gann's voice called out to the young magician.

"M'gann! Conner! I need help! Hurry!" She called out, turning Black Bat on his side, gently setting his head to lay on her lap, when he let out another set of uncontrollable coughing to help him be able to breathe a bit easier. "Hang in there, Black Bat. We're going to take care of you." She whispered to her boyfriend, stroking his hair to help the teen to relax. Two sets of feet coming towards their direction brought some comfort to the younger-teen, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw M'gann and Conner make their approach, with Sphere and Wolf following along from behind.

"Zatanna? What's going o-?" M'gann cut herself off from her sentence by letting out a startled gasp for breath when she saw the pale-form of the. "Black Bat!"

"What's wrong with him? What happened?" Conner asked, kneeling next to the wheezing teenager, trying to figure out what's causing one of his family to be in so much pain.

"I don't know," she explained. "He was on the ground, completely unconscious, when Wolf and Sphere brought me here! I don't know what's wrong with him, I can't wake him up and I'm afraid to use my magic on him, which may worsen his condition than help improve them!"

Kneeling beside Zatanna and placing both hands on Black Bat's temples, M'gann used her Telepathy Powers to try and reach Black Bat within his subconscious. All Zatanna and Conner could do was wait and hope that M'gann will succeed on waking up the Boy Wonder.

Minutes later, the martian ceased her Telepathy Powers and came back to reality, looking rather horrified from what she found within Black Bat's subconscious. Worry for his girlfriend, Conner reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"M'gann, what's wrong?" The martian stayed silent for a moment, before she finally found her voice to tell them a terrifying answer.

"We need to get Batman and Batwoman, now!"

oOo

Slowly coming out of the darkness, Richard finally gained the strength to open his eyes and to find himself in his bed and at Wayne Manor.

'What the...? I'm back home?' He questioned himself, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. 'This can't be right. I was still back at the mountain and sparring with Wolf and Sphere. How did I-?'

Immediately, his chest let out a wave of ache throughout his body, forcing the teen to gasp out and clutch at his chest, bringing back the awful memory to why he's back home and not at Mount Justice.

Flashback...  
>Wolf and Sphere charged at the boy, with Wolf choosing to pounce in the air to pin Black Bat to the ground and Sphere coming at him like a bull locked on to its moving target. With ease, Black Bat leap himself over Sphere and used his hands to prevent himself from falling to the ground, which he used his hands to shift himself to the right and spring backwards, narrowly avoiding Wolf on time.<p>

Now back on his feet and with his opponents preparing themselves to try and bring him down, Black Bat ran towards them. Despite being smaller and a bit shorter than most boys in his age would be, his small-size has been more of a blessing than a curse, for he can dodge attacks easily from his opponents, especially the larger enemies he has faced. When Wolf lifted the upper-half of his body, Black Bat got down to his knees and skid himself behind the large-wolf, surprising the animal when he missed his target and ended up on the ground when the boy shoved himself into the animal's side with his body.

Sphere, who saw the whole thing happen and with the boy picking himself off of Wolf, took it as her chance to bring the boy down by going into her Pill Bug Mode. She may be more vulnerable in her Pill Bug stage, but Black Bat isn't a meta-human and would do no harm to her, even if he were to give it a shot. Besides, in her Pill Bug Mode, she can move more easily and faster than in her Sphere Mode.

Black Bat turned his head when he heard Sphere morphing into her Pill Bug Mode and was barely able to dodge when her now form nearly pinned him down, which he was forced to flung himself to the left and end up landing on his side. As he picked himself off the ground, he found himself gasping for breath and, as he used his right-arm to wipe at his forehead, sweating.

'I'm already getting tired? Again?' He thought to himself, staring up at his opponents, only to find his vision going blurry again and his head feeling lightheaded.

He placed a hand on the right-side of his face, holding it up to keep his line of vision steady, but that only made his condition much worse. Not only that, and even with his mask covering his eyes to help make the room dimmer from all the bright lights, the light of the Training Area made him feel a bit nauseous and weakness to the legs. Spots of red, blue, purple, grey and black danced before his eyes and immediately, Black Bat knew that he was in deep trouble.

Wolf and Sphere, who saw the boy not making a move to attack them and swaying from side-to-side, felt something is wrong with him. Before his vision went full black and his body giving in to the darkness, Black Bat was able to utter three words.

"Wolf... Sphere... Help..."  
>End of Flashback...<p>

Recalling the memory not only answered his question to how he's back home, but also to why he's back in Gotham and not at Happy Harbor.

"It happened again," he whispered to himself. "I either blacked out for a moment during the sparring with Wolf and Sphere and probably, by accident, knocked me unconscious when they attacked me, or fainted when the pain in my chest burst up without warning." Slowly sitting himself up from his bed, he let out a growl of annoyance and anger and dug his fingers through his ebony-hair. 'Why the hell is this happening to me?'

Knowing that he needs to stay calm and control his anger, Richard slowly got off his bed and made his way to his bathroom.

'I need a shower; that always keep me calm and helps me be able to relax when I'm stressed or angry.'

And he was right. Once he removed his clothes and got the water to the exact temperature he wants it to be, in just under two minutes, he felt his anger and frustration wash away with the fallen water coming down from the shower head.

"Ah... Much better," He sighed. Relishing in feeling the comforting embrace of the warm water and steam, as he would always go through whenever taking a shower would help him rid of his anger, the fourteen year-old truly felt reborn.

Too caught up on feeling better, he didn't realize that his shower was causing his heart to pump faster and the steam surrounding him was making it a bit harder to breath. Luckily, when the stabbing feeling in his chest shot up, it brought Richard out of his relaxation feeling and quickly ended his shower.

'Oh no... Not now... Not again!' He cried in his thoughts, drying himself off as fast as he could and putting on some fresher clothes, which became a struggle when his vision blurred out all over again, with some help from the steam surrounding him. He then reached out for the door handle to leave the bathroom, but when his hand nearly brushed against the metal-doorknob and took a step forward, disaster stopped him and forced him to fall to the ground. Dick's eyes widen in fear when he felt his vocal chords just closed without much of a warning, as he grasp at his neck with both hands and try to get himself to breathe.

'Laryngospasm,' he thought to himself. 'My vocal chords just closed off on me... I'm suffering from Laryngospasm... I'm choking!'

Gasping and wheezing for breath, Dick removed one of his hands off of his neck and reached for the doorknob, only to find that he still had the door locked and his fingers kept on sliding off of the metal-doorknob because of the steam had moisturized the material. His vision went even more fuzzy and the black spots danced before his eyes once again.

'Help! I need help!' He screamed in his mind. "H...! HA...!" He tried calling out for help, but with his vocal chords closed off, he couldn't form out one word or scream as loud as he could when he's losing whatever remaining oxygen he has left in his lungs, which he knew it wasn't very much.

Unable to hold himself up any longer, Dick laid himself on the ground and kept on wheezing out, clenching at his chest with the hand he used to try to unlock the door with, as his vision slowly brought him to the darkness of unconsciousness.

He then banged his head against the door, which suddenly gave him an idea for a last resort effort to get somebody's attention when the door let out a shook of a jiggle. Painfully unclenching his right-hand from his shirt and curling it to a fist, Dick scooted himself towards the wall closest to the hallway outside of his bedroom and will all of his strength, pounded his fist against the wall.

'Mom...! Dad...! Alfred...! Somebody, help!' He called out in his thoughts, as he forced himself to keep banging his fist into the wall. No sound of footsteps came to his aid and as the seconds rolled by, so did his control to stay conscious grown weaker and weaker. 'Please... Somebody... Help me...'

Giving out a final punch to the wall, his fist uncurled and slid itself back to the floor next to him, losing his battle to stay awake and breathe. Right before his vision went dark, his hearing caught a faint sound of somebody knocking on his bedroom door from outside of his bathroom door.

"H... Lp... M... Eh..." He choked out a mutter cry for help, even when he knew they wouldn't be able to hear him, and finally allowed himself to be enveloped into the darkness of unconsciousness.

oOo

"I already told you guys like a hundred times, already. I'm fine!" Black Bat argued, keeping his gaze to the floor as the he, Batman and Batwoman walk down the hallway of the Watchtower towards the Med Bay.

"And we keep on telling you every time you say that: You're not fine." Batwoman told their son, glaring down at him and keeping a firm grip on his left-shoulder.

"If you were fine, then Alfred wouldn't had to use the Master Key to unlock your bathroom door and to find you on the floor, grasping your neck as if you were choking." Batman told the fourteen year-old, also giving him a glare that he's using as a mask to hide away how he was truly afraid to learn that his son just suffered from a Laryngospasm. They were lucky that his vocal chords closed off only temporarily and lasted for about thirty to sixty seconds. Also, with Alfred getting him to breathe again by putting very firm pressure behind both earlobes, where there's a notch between the bone of the mastoid process and ear, which is also known as the 'Laryngospasm notch'

"Not to mention, the Team finding you unconscious at the mountain and M'gann informing us what she saw and experienced in your memories." Batwoman added, earning a groan of annoyance from the fourteen year-old.

"How many times do I have to tell you both that I'm sorry she saw my memories? You both make it sound like she already figured out who we are as civilians, when she didn't bring it up to us about knowing who we really are."

The three Bats walked through two parted doors after walking by the sets of beds of the Recovery Room, which lead them to the Examination Room of their Med Bay, where they were met by The Atom and Martian Manhunter

.  
>"M'gann may have gone through your memories and was unable to tell who you were as a civilian, Richard, but that doesn't mean she didn't feel whatever pain you were going through while looking through your memories." J'onn informed the fourteen year-old, as Black Bat took a seat and allowed Martian Manhunter to give him a physical examination... And if J'onn were to be honest with Bruce and Selina, from the very moment they walked right in, he would've told them right away that he sensed something's wrong with the Boy Wonder, not just from examining the teenager.<p>

'Irregular heartbeats, wheezing and gasping for air, paleness to the skin.' He placed a hand on Dick's forehead, as his red-eyes stared into the boy's eyes after he had the teen remove his mask. 'Abnormal temperature, eyes are glazed and appear to be unfocused.' He then lifted Black Bat's right-arm, earning a wince in slight protest on having it be raised up. 'Possible strains in muscles... Or perhaps...' Placing a hand to the shoulder, he added a minimal amount of pressure to the teen's shoulder, earning a grunt from the boy. '...Muscle damage.'

Gathering up all the symptoms and information that he gained from examining the teenager, J'onn came up with a possible answer that he wasn't completely certain of it being correct and quietly motioned Atom to follow him to the other side of the room. Even at a far distance, Batman and Batwoman's cowls allow them to hear their enemies at a one-mile radius, whether their enemies would be whispering or normally talking at a normal volume.

"Well?"

"I'm not completely certain, but judging from what I've gathered from his symptoms and examining him... We haven't made a complete thorough check on him or ask him about his condition, but what I've gathered, it seems to lead to Rhabdomyolysis."

Batman and Batwoman's eyes widen at what J'onn just whispered out to Ray, who also seemed a bit stunned to the news.

"Rhabdomyolysis? That can't be right." He turned his gaze to the Boy Wonder, who seemed a bit uncomfortable the longer he had to stay in the Watchtower when he knows the rest of the League won't be too thrilled to see him inside their base, and then stared back at the Martian. "I mean, yeah, he goes around facing villains at night and pushes himself far beyond his limits when training, but the kid and his parents obviously know when to not push it too far and to give themselves a rest if their body starts to give out on them."

"I know. However, because of an 'incident' that occurred when he was six and was forced to go through some intensive training before he went into the care of Bruce and Selina, I'm having a feeling that his symptoms could be caused by something from his past."

"Really? Like what, and why now, after all these years?"

"...There's only one way to find out." Glancing up to Batman and Batwoman, knowing that they were listening in on their conversation, and earning uncertain looks on their faces but nodding in understanding what the Martian and Atom must do, the two walked back to the confused fourteen year-old. "We're going to need a blood sample."

Half an hour on examining Black Bat's blood and keeping him as calm as possible the longer he remains within the Watchtower, the Examiner completed its scanning of the teen's blood and showed the two the results it gathered by displaying it on a holographic computer... And what Ray and J'onn found, was unbelievable. He may not be a doctor, but Atom is a leading expert in molecular physicist in Ivy Town and if he were to shrink down to see what was going on inside of Richard, he would probably find something that's purposely attacking the fourteen year-old from the inside and is making him weaker with each passing day that goes by.

"Well, what does it say?" Batwoman asked the two, leaning over behind Black Bat and wrapping her arms around her son, feeling that whatever the Examiner just found in Black Bat's blood isn't going to be good news. Martian Manhunter stared up at the information, before turning back to stare at the three bats.

"Before we answer the question, there's something that we must know about, first." J'onn told the bats, then glanced down at Black Bat. "When you were still a Talon, did they give you or injected you with something?"

It didn't take long for Richard to finally figure out what's been going on with his health.

"Yes," he answered. "They inject a serum into my bloodstream; William called it 'Electrum'. It was design to quicken the process of healing, like Flash and Kid Flash." Atom and Martian Manhunter stared at each other, having the exact same thought and conclusion if the answer to their next question is what they expect.

"And did you ever get the serum out?" Batman and Batwoman shook their heads.

"We couldn't find the source of the serum, which made it impossible for us to even try to figure out how to get it out of Richard, without risking the possibility of him sustaining some sort of permanent injury, which could lead to death." Batman explained, placing a hand on Black Bat's left-shoulder and tightening his hold on his son when he saw the sad and worried face on Ray and J'onn.

"We've tried countless of times to make a cure of our own to destroy the serum by complete contact within the bloodstream, but they all ended up with negative results and Richard would end up in pain for days or go terribly ill." Batwoman added in, tightening her grip around Black Bat when her heart banged heavily from the past memories on having to hear her child screaming in pain, for going through so much pain because of his parents' unsuccessful attempts on curing him of the Electrum.

"Our last and only option we have left on removing the Electrum, unfortunately, is to find William and get him to tell us how to cure Richard." Everyone in the room could hear the anger and vengeance in Batman's voice, which means that whoever's on Batman's Targeting List is going to experience a World of Fear and Terror.

"J'onn, why do you and Atom want to know about this?" Batwoman questioned the Martian, barely being able to contain herself any longer on having to hear her son's condition being delayed with information that, to her, doesn't seem that important unless it would put a stop to whatever it's making her son so ill. "Not that we don't want to be reminded to what's important right now, all Bruce and I want to know is what's causing Richard to get so ill, like it's trying to kill him, and then be able to put this whole matter to rest."

Ray pinched the bridge of his nose from the last sentence Selena just said to them, which was something he and J'onn never wanted to tell any parent about their child's condition.

"...If you wish to know, Selina, then I'm afraid to inform you and Bruce that that's what the serum is already trying to do to Richard."

Batwoman's eyes widen from what Atom just said.

"What do you mean by that?" She questioned which earned her silence replies from Atom and J'onn, while Batman placed his right-hand on her shoulder to keep her calm and keep her in place. Black Bat simply stayed quiet, already understanding to what the two heroes are trying to tell his parents. "Tell us! What's happening to our son?!" She yelled, not wanting to believe what they're trying telling her and Bruce the fate of their son.

"Bruce, Selina, from what the computer just gathered from the Examiner, the Electrum is the cause to Richard's sudden change of health, which they seem to react whenever he displays stress, anger or any other sign of negative emotion, or to do something that raises his heart rate from its normal paste." J'onn explained, speaking calmly to both parents, though appear to be clearly sad and feeling all sorts of regret to tell them what's happening.

"The Electrum probably didn't react negatively to Richard earlier, could be because he was a minor." Atom cut in. He kept his gaze on Black Bat, who appears to be calm on hearing such news about his health. "Tell us, Richard, how long ago did the pain started to become active and wear you down?"

The teenager thought long and hard to the question, going through his past experience to the pain

"...Somewhere near my Fourteenth Birthday, I think." He estimated. "...Yeah, somewhere around that time... At least a week before I turned fourteen."

"Just as we thought." Ray stated, looking grimmer than before. "Now that you're an adolescence, it's having a terrible side effect to the changes of your body. Basically, when you finally hit puberty and your hormones and growth spurt began to change while you go through physical maturity, the Electrum couldn't handle the changes your body's going through and is attacking your organs to prevent them from developing, forcing them to either fail and/or to shut down on you..."

Silence went by the room, nothing but the uneasy breathing of Batwoman and the sound of static from the holographic computer was heard throughout the room.

"...Atom, J'onn... Please, tell me you're not saying what I think you're going to tell us." Selina whispered out, pulling her son against her shoulder and keeping a firm grip on the teenager, who simply stayed quiet and showed no signs of any kind of emotion whatsoever.

She didn't bother to see what sort of reaction her husband has, for feeling the tightening feeling on her right-shoulder and seeing the hand gripping onto Black Bat's left-shoulder trembling was all she needed to know that he, too, didn't want to hear what their allies are trying to tell them.

"...I'm sorry, Selena, Bruce... I really am." Ray apologized, wishing that he was simply going to tell Batman and Batwoman that their child has cancer and can easily cure of said cancer. At least if the situation is cancer problem, Ray and the League would be able to cure the teenager and save his life within a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the situation was far worse than cancer.

"We're both sorry to have to tell you this and we wish for the information we gained to be false, but I'm afraid it isn't." J'onn told the three bats. "From what we've learned from the Examiner, the Electrum is not only causing Richard to fall terribly ill, but it's also damaging the inside of his body... It's trying to kill him from the inside out and, judging by the condition he's in and the progress of the serum, there may not be a cure on time to help rid away the Electrum."

"We have to at least try!" Selina cried "The Justice league is filled with the of the universe's most powerful and smartest people in the universe, and you're saying you can't find a cure fast enough!"

"Perhaps if Richard can manage to not increase his heart rate it will slower the process and give us time to come up with a cure" J'onn offered

"We'll make sure he does" Bruce nodded

_To be continued_


	41. Joker and Scarecrow

Joker and Scarecrow

Dick woke up at around 10 am that Saturday morning feeling a little better than he had the day before so got up to take a shower letting the hot water beat across his skin and hair to soothe some of the aching in his muscles. Once he was done he turned off the water dried himself off and put on some fresh clothes then left his room heading down to find everyone else, he walked into the corridor to find his mother

"Dick how are you feeling?" she asked coming up to him and checking his forehead

"Fine, a lot better than I have been the past few days" he assured her

"Well your fever has gone down" she smiled "That's a good sign" he nodded "Let's get you down to the dining room to get some food in your stomach"

"I'm actually not that hungry"

"Then you can't be that better if you don't have your appetite back" Bruce and Selina had been keeping him from patrol until he got a little better and until he did he couldn't do anything that involved Black Bat in anyway

"Now that I think about it I could use something to eat"

"That's better"

oOo

The Bats had been looking into a heist that was supposed to happen tonight at gotham's star labs, Apparently The Joker was planning to steal some of the equipment to use for some unknown motive so they were going to stop him. After streaking out the Labs they finally caught sight of a truck moving in the park lot of the side entrance

"It's the easiest money you can ever make all you have to do is give us the sign if you see any unwanted people coming" A man came toward the truck with a younger man

"And what will you be doing?" he asked as soon as the truck door opened with joker inside

"Ah ah if you stick your nose in places it shouldn't be you might end up getting it cut off" He got out a gun and pointed it to the man "You can keep this a secret right buddy?" the man nodded "Good" tapping the gun on his head before walking away with some of the other men

The bats moved quietly inside the building through some of the windows

Joker was looking around at all the equipment as the men stood behind him waiting for his instructions "Ok let's start with that radar disruptor" Some of the men nodded moving over to it and taking it outside to the truck "And then…" Joker was stopped when the Bat's crashed in through the ceiling "Nice entrance but have you never heard of a door?"

The men got out their guns and began shooting at them so they ducked behind some of the equipment and Batman got out one of his Batarangs throwing it up to a large light on the ceiling and cutting it off making it land on the men

"It's so hard to find good help these days" Joker shook his head

"Time to send you back to arkhem joker" Batwoman came up to him with Black bat

"On the contrary, you'll be too busy digging yourselves out" Joker pressed a button a remote he had making some of the bombs he had attached around the room light up and explode on top of the three of them "Let's move out boys"

The men finished placing the machine in the truck and as soon as Joker came they drove off. The three Bats dug themselves out of the rubble of the room to see that the joker was already gone but some of his men were left trapped under the light Batman had cut down

They were still struggling to get out from under it when Batman approached them and grabbed one of their collar's pulling them out from under it "Where's the joker?"

"I-I don't know!"

The other men that had been left under the light tried to make a run for it but Batwoman and Black bat ran after them. One of them men tried to use his gun to shoot Black bat but he ducked then grabbed the gun kneeing him in the stomach then punching him across the face, another came up behind him with a knife and tried to stab him but he blocked it then punched the man in the stomach, the man was weakened a bit but still managed to slash a cut on his arm before he was knocked unconscious

Batwoman kicked another man in the jaw then punched him across the face sending him to the ground as another tried to shoot her but she grabbed the gun just as it fired in a random direction then elbowed him in the back of the neck knocking him unconscious. They tied all the men up with their lasso's then turned back to Batman, he had already knocked the man unconscious and tied him up too

"What happened?"

"Joker just hired them to do his dirty work they don't know where he is or what he's planning" He turned to dick to see he was sweating a bit but other than that he looked fine "You alright?"

"Fine don't worry" He assured them

Bruce and Selina looked to each other both of them were worried about his condition and didn't think it was safe for him to be overexerting himself with the activities of Black Bat but left it alone for now

"We should get back to the batcave to look for clues on Joker's whereabouts and his plans"

oOo

While the bats were working on looking for clues on Joker's whereabouts, At the Gotham City's City Hall building people were going about their work like any other day, the place was crowded with people so no one really noticed a few strange men enter the building and begin shooting. The people screamed ducking for cover as the men continued shooting taking out all the electronics in the area and right when they stopped a familiar villain came walking in

Scarecrow looked around at all the people then turned to a man that worked there and walked up to him, the man was frightened as scarecrow approached him "There isn't any money here you can steal" Scarecrow grabbed him then threw him into a desk on the other side of the room

"We're not here for money" Scarecrow looked back to the entrance to see joker walking in

"Such a good job you did crow but it's a little crowded in here"

The men nodded and began shooting around again scaring the people even more as they got up and began running out all the exits possible "That's better, now let's get this show on the road"

oOo

Black bat had gone to visit the team at the mountain because they had been worried about his condition; his condition seemed to be on a halt at this particular stage so that was a somewhat good thing but outside of crime fighting he was not allowed to do any kind of work. Zatanna made sure he didn't do anything that could cause him to get any worse by bringing him to the living area where the rest of the team was instead of the mechanics room

"You need to find other hobbies besides working dude" Wally patted him on the back but he shook his head in response "What do you do in your civilian life I doubt you still fight and create gadgets"

"Normal activities"

"Ok then let's try playing video games that's normal"

Dick frowned he barely ever played video games and when he did that was because he had his friends over at the manor "I don't play video games"

"Then how about swimming?" Artemis offered

Dick shook his head because that would mean taking off his shirt and the fake skin would come off showing his scars and Court of Owls symbol

"What about a movie then?" M'gann offered and he shrugged

But once she turned on the TV they began debating on what to watch flipping through channels and while he looked at the screen he recognized Gotham city hall surrounded by police cars on one of the channels before it was changed "Hold on! Go back!"

"You see something interesting?" Zatanna asked

"Yes"

Artemis flipped back to the Gotham news channel on city hall's surrounded

"_Minutes ago Gotham's City Hall was taken hostage by two well known villains: The Joker and Scarecrow although their motive is unknown at this time we do know that they have a radio distributor in their possession. Gotham's police force has surrounded the building but neither of them seems to be exiting the building"_

Black bat immediately got up and headed right back to the Batcave before the rest of the team could say anything, at the batcave he saw his parents and Alfred were watching the news report too.

"_From our helicopter camera it looks as though the Joker has moved the Radio distributor to the roof of city hall" _Because City Hall was the tallest building in Gotham the people on the ground couldn't see anything that was going on at the roof. But from the helicopter's camera the joker got out a bullhorn and stepped to the edge of the roof to look down at the people on the ground

"_Hello Policeman and others of Gotham city, I'm sure it's probably hard not to notice the little disturbance Scarecrow and I have caused to your daily lives, You see we are going to use this radio distributor to scramble all of gotham's radar signals in the area. That's right friends thanks to this fantastic new invention you will no longer have to deal with military of commercial planes flying over gotham. So if you want to avoid unhappy landings just send 40,000,000 dollars to us and remember don't send it airmail" _Joker laughed before moving back to the disruptor

Bruce turned the news off after it was over

"Alright we found the joker who's now working with Scarecrow so now what?" Dick asked coming up to them from behind

"We have to get the disruptor away from them, Selina can you take care of Scarecrow while Dick and I handle the joker?" she nodded "We'll work together on the men"

While they were on their way to city hall they questioned why he choose to use that building in the first place "To disrupt all radar signals he needed to be at the highest point in Gotham

oOo

Scarecrow and his men were down in the lobby of City hall to make sure no one got the roof where the joker was setting up the distributor so the bats entered quietly through the vents and the windows, one of the men noticed a shadow move on the second floor and began shooting at it until it blended into the shadows

Batman landed next to the two men taking one out by landing on him then kicking the other in the face, he turned to see more men were coming after him from behind so threw a batarang at them knocking one of them out as Black Bat and Batwoman came out of the shadows and knocked the other two out

The three of them separated to attack the other men, Black bat got out his staff using it to propel himself over a group and kick a man into the wall the used the electricity on it to electrocute another man. Batman elbowed a man in the face behind him as he kicked a man in the stomach in front of him then turned to throw a batarang at another man shooting from the second floor. Batwoman used a grappling hook to go to the second floor kicking two men unconscious in the process of landing, there was one last group of men that was shooting so the three of them threw their bombs at them and knocked them unconscious

Batwoman saw Scarecrow run out through a hallway so turned to Batman "Go get the joker I'll handle him" he nodded then looked to Black bat

"Come on" he yelled before moving to the roof. Dick was already tired from the little scuffle but knew he had to help take out the men that were on the roof so pulled enough strength to follow batman 'What's the worst that could happen anyway?'

oOo

"The stairs ways are sealed off and there are gas bombs in the elevator shafts" A man reported to the joker

"No way is anyone getting to us up here"

"Is that so?" joker asked just as Batman swung by on a grappling hook kicking one of the men away from joker "'Bats in our belfry again?!" the other man got out his gun and began shooting at batman as he ran to avoid them

A batarang came and knocked the gun out of the man's hand so Joker turned to see Black Bat on the railings of the roof and he saw he looked exhausted but jumped down onto the roof ground "Oh I was wondering when the bat brat would show up" the men and joker approached him

Batman swung by and kicked joker into a the distributor causing it to fall over and turn off

Black bat looked to the men that were still surrounding him and kicked one in the stomach before jumping over and punching the other in the face knocking them both to the ground so he tied them up by throwing a lasso at them then turned to see how batman was doing

Now that all the men had been taken out the only one left on the roof top to take out was The Joker "Give it up joker there's no place left to run here"

"Don't make me laugh my batty friend, this is the pinnacle of my brilliant career…..well maybe not the greatest but still pretty great"

"I'll show you great" Batman growled approaching him

Joker lifted a gun point it to him "Ah ah I don't share your anti-firearms fetish, remember" But he switched directions pointing it over to Black bat and pulling the trigger

Because of the Electrum's symptoms he was too weak to move fast enough and ended up being shot right in his clavicle area, he had been standing next to the railing of the roof's edge and because of the force of the bullet going into his body he fell off the roof

"BLACK BAT!" Batman ran over punching joker in the face first, to see he was making no move to get out a grappling hook

Joker laughed "Sing along with me batsy, when the Black bat goes bob, bob, bobbin along!"

oOo

Batwoman had taken out Scarecrow and tied him up with one of her lasso's and was about to go and join Batman and Black bat on the roof when she saw dick was falling from the roof of the building and seemed to be unconscious. Her eyes widened at the sight and quickly got out a grappling hook firing it at a pole just below where he was falling and caught him as she swung by crashing into one of the windows of City Hall

"Dick, Dick!" She yelled shaking him but he was unconscious, her hand came away red and saw he was bleeding from a wound on his shoulder that appeared to be a bullet wound

"_Batwoman get him to the Med Bay at Mount Justice now. is on her way there!" _Batman yelled over their com

"_Right!" _She quickly scooped him into her arms and called for the Batmoblie

oOo

_RECOGNIZED: MARTIAN MANHUNTER 07, G-02_

The team got confused when they heard that entrance

"Who's Dr. Thompkins?" Wally asked

"No idea" Conner shrugged

The team walked to the Mission room to see what was going on seeing Martian manhunter talking with an elderly woman "Uncle J'onn, what are you doing here?" M'gann asked

"I have been called to assist with surgery on Black bat"

"What happened to him!?" Zatanna asked coming up to him

"We don't know all batman said was that he was severely injured, Batwoman is on her way here with him" Leslie told them but she was confused by it too, the electrum was supposed to heal any wounds he got so why would he need surgery

"Why was he even let out into the field in his condition?" Kaldur asked, he knew that Black bat could fight like he normally could because of the illness he had come down with

"You can ask this once we figure all this out ourselves"

_RECOGNIZED: BATWOMAN 17, BLACK BAT B-01_

The teams eyes widened at the sight black bat appeared to be unconscious but they saw he was bleeding heavily from a wound on his torso, Martian Manhunter flew over to Selina taking Dick from her "Get him to surgery quick!" she cried and he nodded flying down a hallway with Leslie

"What the heck happened to him?!" Wally yelled

"He was shot" she answered getting a horrified look from Zatanna "I was handling Scarecrow while he and Batman took care of Joker on the roof of City hall. I don't know exactly what happened but I do know he was shot near his clavicle and fell off the roof"

"That's like 90 ft!" Artemis's eyes widened that would not be a pretty picture

"I was able to catch him in time so batman radioed me to bring him here so he could have surgery"

"He's lost a lot of blood" Kaldur could tell from the amount of blood he saw on Black bat's torso and now on Batwoman's too "He will need a transfusion won't he?"

Selina grimaced, they did not have a blood bank for altered electrum blood "That will be up to Dr. Thompkins whether he needs one of not"

"Is he going to be alright? What if he goes into a coma? With the condition he was already in that injury could only make it worse, what's going to happen to him, what if he becomes permanatly injured somehow, what are we going to do?" Zatanna cried

"Calm down Zatanna I'm sure he'll be fine" M'gann assured her

_RECONGIZED: BATMAN 02_

oOo

Dick had begun groaning in pain from the bullet wound and coughing a lot, Leslie now knew why he needed surgery, the electrum couldn't heal a wound if the source of the pain was still inside and he was coughing because of the amount of blood he was losing causing him to cough up more of it

He had already been attached to a heart monitor and an IV, the heart moniter was telling them that his heart was beating too fast and even though his heart beat had always been irregular this was dangerous even for him

Martian Manhunter had already gotten his gloves, cape/hood, and mask off while Leslie too off his uniform's torso giving them a full view of the wound on his shoulder "J'onn can you get the bullet out?"

"He will need morphine first" he told her and she nodded attaching a tube to his IV then getting a scalpel cutting a line across the bullet hole causing dick to groan more, she hoped the cut would stay open long enough for them to get the bullet out

J'onn made his fingers grow longer and smaller as he reached into the wound and caught a hold of the small bullet taking it out then placing it in a small container. Leslie was a bit taken aback when she saw the wound wasn't healing itself as fast as it normally should but she did see that it was doing it very slowly "I will need to give him stitches"

oOo

About a few hours after surgery the team had already been told to go and get some sleep and they would give them the word when they could do and see Black bat, dick had been moved to a recovery room with a bandage around his shoulder hiding his symbol but he was a bit pale from the blood loss

"I am sure the electrum will make more blood to replace the amount he lost" Martian Manhunter told Batman and Batwoman, they had refused to rest at all and waited until they could see their son

Bruce saw on the heart monitor that his heart beat was even more irregular than it should be, he could also see that dick was breathing hard like he had just run a marathon and he was sweating

"Bruce, Selina what exactly is going on with Richard? The electrums should have healed him by now shouldn't it, so why is he still in pain?" Leslie asked

Selina looked down to the floor from her position next to dick "The electrum hasn't been working like it should, it's been causing a lot of symptoms that have made him weaker, he gets blurred vision, tired, aching muscles….and now we know he's not as strong anymore"

"Why did you let him out into the field like this?" Leslie asked shocked

"We thought he was finally getting better but apparently not it's only gotten worse" Bruce told her

"He did come close to dying on the operating table" J'onn confessed shocking them "We were able to resuscitate him before he could"

"You know if he's let out back onto the field like this—" Leslie began but Bruce cut her off

"We know"

oOo

"…ck….ick….dick….can you hear me?" he heard a faint voice as he began sturing in his sleep "Can move your eyes?" his eyes began flickering to open and see Selina

"Mom?"

"Dick! You're finally awake" she cried while smiling

"Wh-what happened?" The last thing he remembered was feeling pain in his shoulder and stumbling back, he looked to see he wasn't wearing a shirt and saw a bandage wrapped around his shoulder but he didn't feel a wound under it

"The joker shot you" Bruce revealed himself "Selina got you to the mountain in time for surgery and the electrum finished the healing once the bullet was out"

"Then why—"motioning to the bandage

"It didn't work fast enough to heal you so Leslie gave you stitches" he sat his head back down on the pillow, his muscles still ached from the pain of the old wound

Selina reached over and felt his forehead "Your fever's back" causing him to groan

"I'm sorry if I had been paying more attention I could have avoided being shot" he had been shot plenty of times before during his training but once he finished he had been easily avoiding them. But now because of whatever was going on with the electrum he couldn't do anything right

"We know it wasn't your fault, we shouldn't have let you come with us" Bruce told him

"You need plenty of rest after that"

"I'm fine I can walk the electrum has already healed the wound"

"Yes but once we get home you're going to need a lot of rest" Bruce and Selina looked to each other "The team wants to see you, Selina and I are going to discuss something in the meantime"

He lifted an eyebrow but nodded

oOo

Zatanna immediately went and hugged him on the hospital bed "I was so worried about you!"

"I'm fine Zatanna don't worry" he assured her

"You were shot!"

"Yes and it's healing now so I'll be fine"

"You really had us all worried that's the first time we've seen you so injured" Conner told him once they all came into the room

"Sorry"

"It's ok we know you didn't get shot on purpose" m'gann told him and he nodded

"You really lost a lot of blood though must of taken a lot of blood transfusion to get you back to your normal color" artemis saw how pale he was when he came to the mountain but now he was back to his normal color

Dick frowned but nodded, there was no way he had blood transfusions so the electrum had to have made more blood to do that

"So what's going to happen now, you can't fight until you're all healed and you get over that flu thing you've been having" Wally told him

"Well for now I have to go back home and get some rest but I'll be back to fighting soon"

"Don't push yourself you need to rest" kaldur told him

"I will" he nodded looked over to a stand on the side seeing his Black bat suit was neatly folded "How long was I unconscious?"

"About a half a day we had your uniform cleaned so you could wear something when you woke up" M'gann told him

The only thing he was wearing under his hospital gown was his boxers making him blush a bit, it was a good thing he had the black over the lower half of his body. "I should get dressed so I can go home then so can you…" motioning to the door

"Oh right" Zatanna blushed

"We'll see you when you're recovered then" Wally patted him on the back before leaving

oOo

As soon as the Bats got back to the Bat cave dick knew that something was wrong when his parents said they had to talk to him about something important

"If this is about the shooting…" he started but Selina stopped him

"No we know you couldn't help it because of those symptoms"

"Then what?" he lifted an eyebrow

"Lately on missions we've noticed how you can't fight as well as you normally could, and it ends up with you getting injured that the electrum has to take effect. We know that each time the electrum has to heal you your condition only gets worse"

"Well aren't you looking for a way to cure this?" Even though the electrum was mostly his blood he knew that there had to be a way to stop these symptoms

"Yes but the shooting has made us realize you can't protect yourself out in the field anymore and even if we find a way to stop the symptoms there's no guarantee that you can go back to your normal self" Bruce told him

"Surely if I exercise…"

"Dick anytime you do anything that gets you agitated or your adrenaline kicks in the symptoms get worse and if it leaves you in that state you could end up really injuring yourself"

"Then what are you trying to say?" he narrowed his eyes, it sounded like they were…

"We've decided we need to retire Black Bat" Bruce confirmed

His eyes widened "WHAT?!"

"We need to retire Black Bat, you will only get injured if you go back on the field in this condition"

"It's not like I'm asking the electrum to do this to me!"

"We know but it's only for your well being, it's too keep you safe"

Dick couldn't believe this, he was speechless, if he couldn't be Black Bat anymore than how was he supposed to continue his relationship with Zatanna, and he remembered his days before he became black bat and how his parents were barely home so he got to spend more time with them on the field. He felt anger building up inside him; they couldn't just take Black Bat away from him

"You can't just expect me to stop training that's the only thing I've ever been told to do"

"Well you can't train anymore, the electrum's malfunction could very well get so worse that it could kill you. we will also have to think of something to keep you from doing any rigorous activity at school"

"I'm supposed to be one of the most athletic people a school how will people take it that i just suddenly quit"

"Dick you have to understand…"

"No you wouldn't understand I though you could but I guess I was wrong" He yelled before leaving

Bruce and Selina assumed he went to change but when they heard the engine of a motorcycle start their eyes widened and turned just in time to see dick ride off on the motorcycle down toward Gotham

"Dick!" Selina cried

"Selina stop! He needs time to cool off"

Selina looked down at the floor realizing he was right, but dick had never been angry with them before so there was no telling what he was going to do, what if his symptoms caused him to crash or what if he ran away but he had been in his Black Bat uniform so there was a tracker in his belt

oOo

His anger caused any of the electrums symptoms to subside for now as he sped through the traffic of Gotham, Black bat was the only thing he had that made him feel like he deserved to live it was to redeem himself from the murders and crimes he had committed as an assassin if this stupid electrum would stop its malfunctions everything could go back to normal but that was not happening cause he only got worse each day

He growled and pushed the brakes on the motorcycle once he reached the lesser part of Gotham and threw his helmet to the ground, he needed to be alone to think and being in a quite neighborhood in the outdoors was a good place to soothe his mind. He decided to walk from here, walking was a good way to get your mind off things. He took out a grappling hook and shot it toward a roof jumping up and deciding to be up higher for the wind to give him more comfort

The jump to the roof though had caused some of his symptoms to return like the aching muscles but continued to walk across the roofs anyway. But this was Gotham after all and with this city crime could happen anywhere at any time including now

He heard the scream of a woman giving him a slight headache he looked over the roof to see some men take a woman into an alley 'Can't these people ever give it a break?' he got out a grappling gun pulling himself together and swung to the entrance of the alley which was a cut between two buildings

He landed behind the men as they pushed the woman to the ground "Please just leave me alone!"

"Aw come on babe let's just have a little fun"

From the smell of it he could tell these men were drunk so immediately went into action kicked one of them men in the back of the head knocking him to the ground then punched the other man into the wall neither of them were knocked unconscious because he wasn't as strong as he usually would be but when they saw him they ran 'It's a good thing the criminals don't know about my condition'

He turned to the woman to see she was scared and crouched in a ball next to the wall "Miss?" laying a hand on her shoulder she let out a small scream but then saw it was a hero

"B-Black bat thank you so much I thought they were going to r-rape me"

"It was nothing but you should be getting home" She nodded and ran out of the right side of the alley the opposite side that the men had gone

Dick sighed closing his eyes from a migraine he could feel coming on then turned to leave but when he opened his eyes he was shocked at the sight, Talons were at the left end of the alley, he backed away a bit and slightly turned to see more talons at the other end of the alley

He didn't even bother to look up he knew that in his condition he did not stand a chance against them

_To be continued_


	42. Renizal?

Renizal?

Bruce sat in the Batcave typing on the large computer updating his files while Selina helped updated the computer systems, they wanted to be in the cave when dick got back so they killed time by working, they knew that it had been cruel taking away Black Bat from him but it was to keep him safe. Dick could barely fight anymore because of the condition he was in so it would be foolish to let him out into the field where he'd only get injured again. They had made a deal with each other dick had stormed out of the cave at around midnight so if he wasn't back by 1am they would go and search for him, he needed time to blow off some steam from the argument they had had.

Footsteps came from the stairs that lead up to the mansion, they hadn't gone up to see Alfred yet so he was coming to check if they came back "Good evening Master Bruce, Miss Selina how are you two?"

"Not good alfred" Selina sighed

Alfred lifted an eyebrow "And why is that?"

"We had to tell dick that we are retiring Black Bat"

"Ah I see, I take it he did not take the news well"

"That's an understatement" Bruce muttered "He stormed out of the cave about a half hour ago on his motorcycle"

"I honestly don't blame him"

"What?" Selina turned to him

"Well you can't really expect a boy who has been trained his entire life to just leave fighting behind, last I spoke with him about the electrum situation he was very frustrated with himself"

"Did we do the right thing?" Bruce asked

"I know that you only came to this decision because of the fateful gunshot wound and I understand that you are only protecting him from the dangers of being Black Bat so once he comes back you have to explain these things to him and try to come up with a compromise"

Bruce and Selina looked to each other "You're right Alfred"

"As always sir"

oOo

Bruce and Selina were beginning to get worried, it was already 15 minutes after 1 am and dick has still not returned, he hadn't even contacted them or anyone on his communicator, they thought he would at least call Zatanna but they checked her com link and it had not received any transmissions from Black Bat. Alfred came back down to see Selina pacing and Bruce tapping his finger on the desk

"Master Richard has not returned?"

"No and it's been over an hour" Selina shook her head

"Are you going out to search for him?"

The reason they had not gone out to do that already was because they were worried that dick would still be angry with them and only yell at them to leave him alone if they did find him "Should we?"

"Master Bruce if his angered mood was not enough to be worried about him then his health condition he is in is he could have very well collapsed one again from another migraine, or perhaps had an accident on the drive"

They had been worried about that but would they have heard a bat wave on finding the boy wonder unconscious or finding a crashed Bat motorcycle. Bruce immediately brought up a map of Gotham on the computer then typed in a few commands making two red dots appear on the screen, one was a tracker in Black Bat's utility belt and the other was a tracker in the motorcycle, they were a couple blocks away from each other in The Narrows

"Why is he in the Narrows?" Selina asked

"Don't know but we should go and get him, the narrows are filled with criminals and he can't fight properly to protect himself"

"I'll head back up to the manor" Alfred told them as they jumped down to the Batmoblie and drove off

Once they arrived close to the locations of the tracking signals they got out of the vehicle and went on foot because the batmobile was just to noticeable and they did not have time to deal with criminals, they went after the motorcycle first running across the rooftops of the buildings

Selina was a bit worried because neither of the tracking signals had moved in the time it had taken for them to arrive in the Narrows, she tried to assure herself that maybe dick had just chosen to sit on a rooftop or maybe has fallen asleep. They came closer to the first tracking signal and jumped down to the road, It was a quiet street anyone who might have been out and seen him would most likely be asleep by now

Bruce didn't want to tell Selina this but he had a bad feeling about the trackers not moving, when they came to the motorcycle it was in perfect condition, dick had parked it close to an alley so that it could be well hidden from anyone who might want to hijack it and his helmet was lying on the ground a few feet away

Selina picked up the helmet while Bruce inspected the motorcycle, the shield to protect the eyes had been cracked so she could tell that dick had thrown the helmet to the ground with probably all the strength he had "He's not around here, has he moved?"

Bruce checked the map again but the other tracker was still in the same position "No, the other signal is a few blocks away from here, let's go" she nodded and followed him

But when they arrived at the second location they did not expect the scene before them, they came to an alley and it looked like a tornado had gone through there, their hearts dropped when they found the tracker which was supposed to be in the front buckle of the utility belt but had been ripped out and was lying on the ground

"Wh-what happened?!" Selina cried

'Dammit!"' Bruce inwardly swore he should have known something would happen to dick if he stormed out of the cave and came to the narrows, so he immediately searched for any clues as to what happened

Selina joined him looking through the alley, there were a lot of signs of a struggle, dick had obviously tried to fight whoever might have taken him because they saw some batarrangs and disks lying around the ground and a few pellets. But what really worried them was the claw marks scattered around the place, but those were hardly clues to who did this because dick had claws on his gloves too so he could have been the one to leave those

Bruce walked to the other end of the alley while Selina searched the opposite end and found that this was most likely where dick had been during the attack, he grimaced when he caught sight of a some blood puddled on the ground and a knife next to it that had blood on its blade. He slowly walked over to it the puddle was large but not too large to cause concern but the blade was unusual not like any knife he had ever seen before but when he turned the blade over his eyes widened 'No..'

Selina saw Bruce was started by a sudden revelation "Batman?" she asked walking closer to his position and she caught sight of the blood at his feet, no dick could not afford to get injured again who knows how much worse he could get if he did "Batman?" coming to his side to see he had a knife in his hands

"William" he finally spoke

Selina shuddered there was only one William he could be talking about and the only William that they knew, her eyes widened and looked to the knife and felling a wave of dread after seeing the Court of Owls symbol on the blade

They both came to the same conclusion, Dick their son had been taken by the Court of Owls

oOo

Dick had been going in and out of consciousness for a long time, the first time he woke up was only for a few seconds and it had been very hazy but he did hear the sounds of a plane and some talking before he drifted off again. He woke up a second time from the sound of a car door closing then the start of an engine he could tell it was already daylight from the sun light shining in through the windows of the car but after that he drifted back off

He finally fully regained consciousness but was only met with darkness and a killer headache, he could feel that there were metal binds around his wrists and ankles once again 'Shouldn't really be surprised' he thought back to the moment in the alley he had been surrounded by talons, it was foolish but he tried to fight them but in the end he was easily overpowered and got stabbed in the stomach. He felt down to the area where he had gotten stabbed and could feel the hardness of the dried blood and a slight cut but it wasn't bleeding. But he did feel pain within his stomach from the aftershock of the stab

'Why didn't they just kill me there? Why would they bring me here where I guess is their new base? William probably wants to kill me himself for all its worth' he could tell that his gloves had been removed so he couldn't use them to pick the locks on the shackles and his boots were gone leaving him with only his socks

'I wonder how long I've been out' he remembered that it was still dark out when he had stormed out of the batcave then the brief memory of the car drive where It had already been daylight so he guess that he had been out for a good few hours. He thought about his parents next he wondered if they had begun looking for him, he knew he was still alive but he had no idea where he was and if they would even figure out that the talons had took him

"I see you're finally awake" a voice came just before the lights turned on blinding him

He rubbed his eyes first but when he opened them his vision was slightly blurred and he felt a little dizzy. Now that the lights had been turned on he could make out the room he was in, and he was shocked by the new prison cell style they had. He thought he had been in another dungeon chain to the walls again but even though he was still chained he was not in a dungeon he was in a large container like a giant test tube. 'What the hell…' the container was a bit off the ground and he could see outside of it was a control panel he shuddered to think what it did

"You have been unconscious for over 13 hours Richard" the voice said again

He looked up from the panel to see The Court of Owls very own leader and his great-great grandfather William Cobb but he did not have any other talons with him "Why did you bring me here William?"

"I see your still haven't learned to watch your tongue"

"If you're going to kill me than just go ahead and get it over with" he huffed crossing his arms and leaning against the back of the container

"I am not going to kill you Richard" dick sent him an odd look like he was crazy "How about we catch up a bit we are family after all"

"I am not your family!" he spat

William ignored him "I see you've taken to the other side of the law during these past five years, Black Bat was it such an amusing name"

"How did you find out I was alive anyway?"

"Do you really think that little of me grandson?" dick glared " I have known about your survival from the fire for years, its not hard to miss the magazine covers with your picture plastered all over them"

Dick felt like an idiot he should of known that William would have seen the advertisements he was in "Why did you wait this long then? If you've known I've been alive all this time then why wait until now to bring me back?"

"I wanted to see how things played out actually, see if you were really capable of being a vigilante with your adoptive parents, I have to say I am disappointed in you" dick frowned " I could tell from the behavior of the Justice League that they do not trust you ask much as your little hero friends and family do, they still see that assassin in you"

"I am no longer an assassin!"

"Yes but you still use some of the techniques we taught you, I even heard about your encounter with Lance Crock otherwise known as Sportsmaster—"

"That was a long time ago, I was still new to the hero business!" out of nowhere he was shocked making him yelp and fall to the floor of the container. His chest began hurting because of the electrical shock before glaring up at William

"Yes I no longer need to put a collar on you the container will shock you instead, you should know I don't like being interrupted."

'Bastard!' he gritted as he begun trying to catch his breath

"As I was saying you have made a name for yourself in the social and hero world, you are supposedly the Prince of Gotham and The Boy Wonder, skipped a few grades to get in the most prejudice school in the city and the most famous of Sidekicks"

"Stalker" he muttered

"'I make it my business to know how my young grandson is doing" Dick glared at him

"What's the point of all this William, I will never go back to the life of an assassin and you said you weren't going to kill me so what are you going to make me rot in this container for the rest of my life?!"

"I will get to that in due time, I have also noticed your little romance with the young Magician Zatanna" dick's eyes widened

"Leave her out of this!"

"I did not plan to harm her Richard, she obviously does not know of your past otherwise she would have never taken any interest in you am I right?" dick looked away "None of your other teammates know of your many assassinations do they?"

"You love taunting me don't you?"

"You even but some of the talons uniform styles into your Black Bat costume" William walked over to a table on the other end of the room where he could see the missing pieces of his uniform were, his mask, his cape/hood, gloves, boots, and his utility belt "The claws of the gloves are easily noticeable" picking up one of the gloves

"Batman once had them also as well as Catwoman" he tried to defend himself but those claws were useful in the field and that's why he added it to his uniform from experience as a talon "And what about you, you know everything that happened to me since the fire but I can tell you weren't on vacation these past five years"

"I did take time to come up with new plans for the Court of Owls return"

"This…container isn't really the prison style I'd expect from the Court of Owls, although the shackles aren't anything new"

"Yes I have made some interesting friends while I was away, they have been most resourceful in building this new and improved Base, much better than the one I used to have in Gotham"

Dick noticed something in what he said….he had been worried from the sound of a plan in that brief memory but "Were not in Gotham are we?"

"Of course not I am sure you would have noticed a new base being built on the outskirts of the city" dick sighed it was going to be harder for his parents to find him then he thought "The where are we? Another country or just another state?"

"We are in your rightful birthplace, were you were always meant to be"

He was in Europe, Romania but whether they were in Bucharest was still a mystery. He had only been to Bucharest once after his adoption, it was a vacation with his parents to see where he was born he didn't really mind since he had been curious too

"From what I said before I am very disappointed in your skills" dick narrowed his eyes "I can tell that you have been slacking in your training, It did not take long for me to hear about the gunshot wound you received from the Joker"

Dick looked over to him, he wondered if William would have the answer to what's been going on with the electrum in his body and if he had a way to stop the symptoms

"If it hadn't been for Batwoman you would have died from the 90 ft fall off the City hall's roof, you should have been more aware of your surroundings and have been quick enough to avoid the bullet I see that you have really gotten much weaker than I would have liked"

"It's not like I want this to be happening to me it whatever going on with this electrum you in me. Thanks to this they were forced to make me retire!" he yelled

William was actually surprised by that "So you still have the electrum within your bloodstream I take it?"

He lifted an eyebrow "Of course there isn't a way to take it out is there?"

"No but I assumes that your Martian or Sorceress Heroes found a way to remove it. If the electrum is still inside of you I am surprised that you are still alive"

Dick frowned "What do you mean?"

"After about 3 years or so the electrum begins to deteriorate your body slowly shutting down your body from the inside out, you have been away from the Court for 5 years so you can see why I am so stunned"

"And you didn't tell me this when you administer it!" He was shocked by the sudden news the electrum probably had a late effect on him because he was so young and the deteriorating was only beginning to start now

"I did not see the need too; I had thought you would have stayed with the court your entire life"

"You really are a psycho, you put this serum in my blood just for it to kill me after all these years, must have been plan B since I didn't die in that fire"

"I realized after I had left you in that fire that I had made a fatal mistake in trying to kill you" he lifted and eyebrow "I would not want to kill the only relation I have left on this world I actually care for you very deeply"

They stood in silence before dick scoffed "You actually expect me to believe that!"

"Your right I don't care what happens to you I just need you alive and healthy until you're capable of producing a child"

Dick frowned and stared at his psychotic grandfather "What?"

"You see there is no chance that I can convince you to carry on the family tradition of the Court and once I've past I don't want a non-relative to carry on this organization. I am no longer capable of producing children but you are"

He felt disgusted by him was he planning to prostitute his own grandson until he got a girl pregnant, it wouldn't surprise him though but that was just disgusting "You're sick, even if I were to have a child I would never give him or her to you, I am not as heartless as the Grayson's were"

"I do need a Blood relative heir Richard unless you are willing to reconsider the offer"

"Over my dead body!"

"Well I'll just have to settle for your child instead"

"Maybe you haven't noticed William but I'm only 14 years old here! And if what you said was true I'll die soon anyway from the electrum"

"There Is a way to treat the deterioration effect on your body" Dick head shot up "Every talon has the electrum administered into their body once they are trained enough to handle its effects, the purpose of the electrum is to prepare your body to build up its strength from the many injuries you receive. There is a second serum that has to be administer after 3 years"

'A second serum?'

"The Serum is called Renizal, it has more features than the electrum does, once it is administered the electrum will no longer be a part of your blood stream. The Renizal also has the healing feature of electrum but it does not cause any pain, quite the opposite actually, other than that this serum will also increase your strength and speed far above any skill of a normal human"

That explained why none of the other Talons ever seemed to be in pain when they were injured and why they were so skilled, he thought it was because of the extreme training but it was really because of the Renizal "You wouldn't be doing this out of the kindness of your heart William, what's in it for you?"

"I already told you" dick frowned but realized he meant he wanted his future child "I do agree with Batman and Batwoman on one fact though …..You are useless in your current condition, so in order to get what I want I will have to make sure you are alive for it"

"You actually think I'll go and get a girl pregnant just to make you an heir"

"Now did I ever mention that you would be doing such a thing even I'm not that cruel, there are other means of creating a child without the presence of a female"

"So a clone?" he would need to be perfectly healthy or not the clone would just be in the same condition he was in right now

"You will see in due time, but for now I have to prepare the Renizal administration, it's has been quite some time since we've done this so it may take a while" William walked back to the door "I will make sure you are not in complete darkness this time" he turned off all the lights except one that was shining down over the container he was in before he left

oOo

Once Bruce and Selina had returned to the Cave without Richard but an auto-pilot motorcycle behind them Alfred knew that something was wrong, they seemed angered with themselves and extremely worried. His questions had been answered when they had admitted to finding signs of a struggle, blood, and the Court of Owls knife at the location of dick's tracker

Before they left the alley Bruce had gotten some of the blood from the puddle on the ground to check it's Dna, once he ran it through the Bat computer it was confirmed that the blood did in fact belong to their son "It wasn't a lot of blood that could kill someone" he tried to reassure his wife when she began panicking

"This is our entire fault if we had just gone after him right away he would have never been captured, who knows where he is now or even if he's still alive!"

"We know that the Court has been after Dick for a long time now Selina it was only a matter of time before this happened, but I do believe he is still alive" that gave her a ray of hope "If they wanted to kill him they would have already done it, they would have at least left his body but they took him most likely to their new base"

"What would they want with him?"

"I haven't figured that out yet, we know William doesn't care about dick's well being if he had heard about the electrum's malfunctioning, so there must be some other purpose for taking him"

Selina wondered if once William saw how sick dick had become if he would give him the answer to what was going on and maybe give him the cure "Do you think William will cure dick?"

"He had to have been taken for a purpose and dick can barely do anything now so he'll have to do something about that"

"But how are we going to find him, it's been hours and he could be long gone by now"

"We would have noticed if the Court was building a new base around Gotham, so we can cross that off our places to look" Bruce thought back to how he began his search for dick when he had first been taken at the age of 6, Catwoman had asked other criminals about the court, and he remembered Ivo taunting dick about William coming for him "What is the status on Professor Ivo?"

"He was broken out of Belle Reve a few weeks ago"

Bruce nodded, he also remembered that they had asked Zatara to pinpoint Dick's exact location but that was out of the question since he was now Doctor Fate's host and Fate was off world, so that only left Zatanna "We could ask Zatanna to perform a location spell of dick it would narrow down the places to search but…"

Selina knew that asking Zatanna to perform a location spell on Black Bat would also mean telling her that he was missing and that would most likely lead to revealing the Court of Owls to them, and they had no idea how they would take the news that their friend and boyfriend used to be an assassin

"They would have found out eventually" she sighed

"Yes but what about the Justice League, they will find out that we told the team"

Selina actually smirked at that "Since when do we care about what the justice league thinks" Bruce smiled back at her

"I'll contact Black Canary and ask her where Zatanna is" Selina said before walking away and sending a transmission to Dinah

"_Yes Batwoman?"_

"Black Canary can you tell me where Zatanna is and maybe the other members of the team"

There was a pause before she responded _"They're all here at the mountain actually it's almost time for their training session. Why?"_

Selina sighed "We need Zatanna's help, we need her to perform a location spell on dick"

"_Why? What happened?"_

"After we returned to the cave last night we told him that we had to retire Black Bat, and he became so angry that he stormed out of the cave on his motorcycle, it's all our fault we should have known this would happen"

"_Selina?"_

"Dick was taken by The Court of Owls; he's been missing since midnight"

There was a much longer pause on the other end of the line before she spoke again _"Selina, I….Asking Zatanna to do this…you know what it would mean doing right?"_

"Yes, but we think it's time they knew"

"_Alright I'll have them prepped for your arrival"_

"Thank you Dinah"

oOo

Zatanna had actually been really worried about her boyfriend, during the middle of the night she woke up from a nightmare and had gotten a bad feeling in her gut that something was wrong, usually he called her at least once a day a few minutes after she finished breakfast but that had been hours ago and still no call from him

"He's probably still recovering from the gunshot and slept right through your phone call time" Artemis offered

"I don't know it's not like him not to at least send a text"

"You worry too much, you need to let guys have a little space once in a while you'll smother us with all that affection" Wally smirked

"Oh really I guess I can ignore you more often than" Artemis huffed

"What no I didn't mean it like that!"

Zatanna ignored their bickering and continued to look down to her cell phone waiting for it to ring or buzz, Maybe Wally was right, maybe Black bat did want some space and decided not to call her today, maybe he was already getting tired of her and moved on to another girl

M'gann saw the panicked expression on her face and had taken a small peek in her mind to see that she thought Black bat might be cheating on her "Zatanna you're overreacting! Why don't you just call him and ask why he didn't call"

"I don't know what if I'll be bothering him" He could start getting annoyed with her

"You can just say you were worried about him girl he'll understand besides I'm sure his parents haven't even let him leave the bed since he got back home"

"Ok then" Zatanna typed in a few commands then the phone began contacting Black Bat's communicator

oOo

Dick had been leaning again the glass of the container trying to rest in order to soothe both his pain emotional and physical when a red light began flashing knocking him out of his thoughts, he turned to the source of the light to look over on the table where his Utility belt was

The pocket that he kept his communicator was flashing and from the small shaking he could make out of the pocket he could tell that someone was trying to contact him. He slumped back down in the container he was trapped in; he knew exactly who was trying to contact him

His parents would already know that he was taken by the Court from the signs that he had made sure to leave in the alley, and he had only given his communicator code to one other person….his girlfriend Zatanna. He was supposed to call her early this morning but he obviously couldn't do that so she was probably worried why he didn't 'Because my psychotic grandfather kidnapped me and had me locked in a human sized container'

oOo

"He didn't answer" Zatanna frowned

"I'm sure he has a reasonable explanation" Raquel assured her

"You can always ask him once he comes back" Conner told her

_RECOGNIZED: BATMAN 02, BATWOMAN 17_

"You can ask them where he is" Kaldur offered

"Right" Zatanna smiled

Over the speaker of the mountain came Black Canary's voice _"Team report to the Mission room"_

"Hey maybe we have a mission" Wally smiled

When the team got to the mission room Batman and Batwoman were talking to Black Canary about something before they turned to them as they walked into the room

"Do we have a mission Batman?" Kaldur asked

"No, but there is something important we need to tell you"

_To be continued _


	43. Past Revealed

Past revealed

From the tone of Batman's voice the team could already tell that the subject was serious

"Where is Black bat? Shouldn't he hear this too?" Zatanna asked also wondering where her boyfriend was and why he wasn't with his parents

"That is the reason we have come to talk to you about" Batman spoke "Last night shortly after we returned to the batcave we told Black Bat that we thought it was a good idea if he retired from the hero business"

"WHAT?!" wally yelled, even though the rest of them were shocked as well they didn't yell about it "You can't do that he's the best fight hero out of everyone on the team!"

"I agree Batman" Kaldur stepped up "Although he has not been at his best lately I believe once he has recovered from his illness that he can get back to his usual fighting skills"

Zatanna was horrified if he wasn't allowed to be a hero anymore then how were they supposed to continue their relationship, she didn't even know his secret identity so she wouldn't be able to see him out in public either

"We know and it was a mistake to tell him that because right after we told him he became furious with us for even suggesting it" Batwoman sighed

"I don't blame him" Conner crossed his arms as she continued

"We told him that our decision was final and he became so angry that he stormed out of the batcave on his motorcycle, when he didn't return in less than two hours…..we became worried that he might have gotten sick again and crashed somewhere" Selina wished they had decided to go after him right away

"So he's missing?" artemis asked

"He is but we know exactly who took him"

"So what are we standing around here for! We have to go and save him!" Zatanna yelled

"it's not that simple" Batman yelled "First of all we don't even know where he is all we know is who took him" silencing the team "When Batwoman and I went to go search for him we did find his motorcycle that he had abandoned probably deciding to walk instead. But when we went to the signal of the tracker in his utility belt…..He had been in an alley at the time of his kidnapping for some unknown reason when he was cornered by Talons" Pulling up an image of a Talon from the Court of Owls on the holographic computer behind him

"Hey that's…" Wally began but Batwoman cut him off

"This is an image of a Talon soldier for a group of assassins called the Court of Owls"

"What would they want with Black Bat?" Zatanna eyes began watering thinking of the danger her boyfriend was in with these assassins

"Black Bat never wanted any of you to know about his past because it has a massive criminal record"

The teams eyes widened especially artemis's "Why would you two get him involved with criminals, you're supposed to be heroes and you let your own son become a criminal?!"

"We wish that were true" Batwoman spoke getting confused faces from them "But black bat is not our biological son" surprising them, black bat had always called them his parents, Mom and Dad, so why would he call them that if they weren't his real parents "He is adopted"

"Why didn't he ever tell me?" Zatanna asked, her own parents were gone so why would he never tell her that his parents weren't his real parents

"He despises his actual family, he doesn't even refer to them as his family instead calling them by their names" Batman changed the image on the holographic computer to a poster of The Flying Grayson's of Haley's Circus, and another image of Richard Wayne

"Haley's Circus?" Wally looked at the poster "I used to love going there as a kid, they always had the best acts in any circus I had ever seen"

"Yeah me too" Before her training had begun artemis mother had taken her and jade to the circus a lot to see the show "The kids there were like real professional it made me kid of jealous of them to tell you the truth"

"The circus is not as innocent as it looks" Batman growled "There is nothing to be jealous about the children who worked there, I sincerely doubt any of them even know the truth either" the chosen talon had already been decided for this generation

"What does Richard Wayne have to do with anything?" M'gann asked, why would they be showing an image of the Prince of Gotham at a time like this

"Richard Wayne is the secret identity of Black bat" Batwoman confessed shocking them

Zatanna's eyes widened thinking back to Black Bat in her mind and looking to the image of Richard on the holographic screen, they did have similar facial features and she had never seen his eyes before but now she could see that they were the purest cerulean blue eyes she had ever seen. Black Bat's hair was always a mess but Richard's was perfectly combed and gelled, she then looked down to the tiffany's bracelet she had on her wrist and now it made sense how he could have afforded it, he was from a Multi-billionaire family

Artemis was complete shocked that her friend at Gotham Academy was also her friend on the team as Black Bat, there was no way she could have made the connection because Richard always spoke with an accent and Black bat didn't, she did know it was possible to do that but still….even though Richard was athletic he had never shown that he was a fighter either.

"Wait" she called getting everyone's attention "If Black bat is Richard Wayne then that would have to mean that you two are…" looking to Batman and batwoman "Bruce and Selina Wayne" she had never actually met them in person since whenever she went to the mansion they weren't home

"Yes" they nodded taking off their cowls revealing the faces of the Multi-billionaire couple

"Why are you telling us this?" Raquel asked speaking for the first time

"Because our secret identities would have to be reveal to explain why Black bat or Richard was taken by the Court of Owls" Selina said

"So he's not your biological son?" Artemis asked and she nodded "Then what happened to his real parents"

"Dead"

"Oh I'm so sorry"

"Don't be they had it coming" she crossed her arms shocking them

"Richard's is originally from a Haley's Circus, he along with his former family were one of their acts called The Flying Grayson's" batman motioned to the poster "When he was six years old though a mob boss by the name of Tony Zucco came to try and extort money from the circus but the circus owner refused saying he ran an 'honest business' and would not lower himself to receive protection from criminals. As revenge for not paying zucco had the wires of the trapeze sabotaged so during the show while the Flying Grayson's were performing the wires came lose making all of them except Richard fall to their deaths"

Artemis though back to when she was still a little girl and remembered hearing a news report that involved the circus but she didn't pay much attention to it since she didn't really care for current events back then

"Richard was devastated when his the Grayson's died, he told Commissioner Gordon about Tony Zucco because he had seen him going out of the ten just before the show, I had met him that night because I was in the audience, none of the other circus performers or workers were willing to take him in"

"That's weird" Raquel put her hands on her hips "He had grown up there so why wouldn't they want to take him in if they had known him his entire life"

"I was suspicious of that as well, when I went to help Richard get packed to leave I had decided to talk to Haley about Tony Zucco but I had overheard a conversation he was having with someone over the phone that they would be coming for Richard very soon and it did not sound pleasant"

"But you guys got to him in time right? I mean he's here with us fighting crime and lives a happy life in Gotham with you" Conner motioned to the picture of Richard on the screen

Batwoman shook her head "After Richard left the circus he was taken to the Juvenile Detention Center"

"JUVIE!" Zatanna and Wally yelled at the same time. Zatanna was horrified that he had gone to jail but from what she had heard so far he hadn't committed any sort of crime so why would he be placed there

"How…Why?!" Wally asked

"The social worker who was assigned to his case was also a Romanian Racist" Batman gritted, the team had concluded on their own that Richard was Romanian "And because of that she felt it was best that he was placed there"

"Is that even legal?!" Raquel asked

"It was at the time" Bruce had made sure that there was now a law against that

"Once Bruce had told me he was planning to adopt Richard I agreed that he deserved a good home, we had gone to visit him once while he was there with a therapist that had been helping him. We could tell that the other inmates weren't the kindest people he should be around, he was badly beaten and bruised, because he didn't know how to fight at the time he was unable to defend himself"

Conner got angry at that, his friend had gone through such a traumatic past "Where is that social worker!"

"She is no longer a social worker, we had our lawyers put a case against her for what she had done and she was fired from CPS" the team smiled that the woman could no longer do that to any other children "we don't know what happened to her after that though"

"But once we received word that we would be able to adopt Richard it was already to late" Bruce sighed "That night the talons broke into the Juvenile Detention Center and kidnapped Richard, Killing and injuring an amount of people in the process"

"That still doesn't explain why he was taken last night! How did he even get involved with assassin's? he was just a simple circus performed right?" Zatanna asked, when she had been six years old she had been playing with her dolls but her boyfriend was…

"The Circus is not as innocent as it looks" Batman repeated his earlier line "Shortly after Richard was kidnapped I had learned that the circus was actually involved with his kidnapping" shocking the team "Long before any of us were even born the circus had made a contract with The Court of Owls, in exchange for funding and protecting the circus they would have to give them any child they chose to be the next Talon that would carry on their business"

"And….Richard was…" Zatanna eyes widened

"He had been chosen because of his superior skills, the talons had decided he would be their heir a year before the Grayson's death"

"Why would his parents do that to him?" Wally yelled "Why didn't they run?! They could have gotten help from the police or the league even! They should have protected him!"

"Any parent should have done that for their child but not these people" Selina growled, sure if she and bruce had been in their place that would have been exactly what they would have done with Richard 'Protect him' "Richard had told us shortly after he had arrived at the court they had told him that none of the parents of the children at the circus ever really cared for their children, it was all an act, they're only job was to raise these children until they choose one to be their heir. He was even shown a contact they had made with John and Mary Grayson proving they had given the court full ownership of him like he was property"

"Is that circus still in business?" kaldur growled

"Yes unfortunately"

"What?!" Raquel yelled joining kaldur's at his side

"Even though this is all going on behind closed doors, the circus is still very popular to the community and we do not have any power to put them out of business"

"Then tell the world what's really going on!" M'gann yelled, those children were still in danger

"We would but that would also mean sending Richard to jail for the rest of his life!" Selina yelled shocking them, they did want to protect all of those children but it would also mean saying goodbye to their son "We would have to explain how we learned about this through dick"

"How long was Richard with the court?" Artemis asked

"Over two years" Bruce sighed "We tried out best looking for during the time but we never came across anything concrete, even with the league's help in searching for him it was as if he simply vanished, he had later told us that he was not aloud outside the base compound during the time so that is why nobody ever saw him. During the time he was being trained to become an assassin which was deadly but he never said he didn't life the result"

"Does Ivo have anything to do with this?" Wally asked remembering all the times he and Black bat had come in contact

"Yeah, he and Richard seemed to know each other somehow" Zatanna remembered the small conversation during his interrogation at Belle Reve

Selina nodded "Yes, Richard was actually a student of his during his assassin training, Ivo taught him mostly everything he knows about engineering when he was 7 years old"

Zatanna's eyes widened, she had thought it was batman who taught him how to build such amazing machines like that, he had built a new and improved Meca-batsuit right in front of her but he had been taught to do that by a criminal

'That actually makes a little sense' Wally thought, once they had defeated Amazo black bat had known exactly how to dismantle him so quickly he had thought it was because he knew so much about robotics but now it was because he knew Ivo himself

"Nobody but the Talons and Ivo had seen Richard for those two years until he was finally let out into the field on his first mission" Dick had told them that that mission was not the first time he had killed, his training involved practice for it and that included killing actual living people "We didn't see him but once we caught word of the killing, I had gone down to the harbor to investigate and found signs of the Talons"

"H-h-how….m-many?" Zatanna fidgeted

"Dick hates himself for doing these things, but it was the only thing he knew at the time, he thought the talons were the only people who actually wanted him after he learned his own family had sold him, so in order to please them he killed without hesitation"

The team looked to each other for a bit looking a little troubled now that they had found out their friend was once a murderer

"The people he had killed that night at the harbor were also drug dealers" the team turned back to Bruce "the amount was 12 men, they had all been killed in a little less than 20 minutes. I had found out it was Richard who had done that from security footage of the only child talons there should be doing it. After that I had gotten the league to report any sighting of him and to try and bring him in"

"Richard didn't understand what we were trying to do for him, he had thought we wanted him to come with us because we wanted to know the base's location and then send him to jail for his crimes. Superman was the first to actually talk to him" Selina told the m shocking them

"He tried to kill superman!" Conner yelled, even if he was a trained assassin he couldn't take on someone of his caliber

"No" Bruce shook his head "You will be very surprised by this, but because of that mission Superboy, you were able to be born" conner's eyes widened

"Wh-what?"

"Lex Luthor had gone to the Court of Owls base and had personally asked of them to retrieve Superman's Dna so that he could be cloned which obviously resulted in your being born. Richer had to fight superman with some other talon's help but he had gotten the sample of his Dna himself and gave it to luthor"

"So without him I would have never…" Conner rubbed the back of his head

"Why didn't he ever say anything?" M'gann asked

"Because it would lead back to explaining his assassin past"

"Another mission he was sent on also involved Flash" Bruce said getting wally's attention "He was sent to retrieve a computer chip from Star Labs facility in central city, when he was heading back to the rendezvous point flash approached him"

"Uncle Barry never told me he had met Black bat before" wally muttered

"Flash tried to persuade him into coming back to the Hall of Justice with him and Richard was going to go with him.." That got their attention

"So why didn't he?" Kaldur asked he could just picture Richard reaching for flash's hand in his mind

"Because at the last moment flash said Richard could tell us where the base was" Bruce shook his head, dick could have been saved then if flash hadn't said that

Richard pulled his hand back in kaldur's mind and received groaned from the team "Idiot" one of the muttered

"Once flash said that Richard became furious feeling like he had been fooled once again, like flash was pretending that he actually cared about him, so shot him several times in the legs to keep him from stopping his escape"

Wally tried to think back to that night, even though they were fast healers there had to be some sign that Uncle Barry had been shot, he faintly remembered seeing Barry had some pain in his legs and when he asked why he had simply said he was stopping a few robbers and they had gotten a few shots in

"He never came in contact with my father right?" Zatanna asked, surely he would have told her if he had had anything to do with an assassin

"No but we did ask Zatara several times to try and locate Richard with one of his spells but he could only pinpoint that he was in Gotham the entire time. Zatara had also told us that Richard did not feel normal anymore, like he had somehow become a meta" Selina thought back to that conversation

"But Black Bat doesn't have powers…right?" Zatanna asked surely she would have noticed something like that

"No the reason behind that meta sense was because, before he was with the talons Richard's blood type was O-negative" Selina told them getting m'gann's attention because that had also been Garfield's blood type in qurac, why didn't black bat offer a blood transfusion from himself then "But during his training Richard had told us that they had induced a serum called Electrum into his blood stream altering it"

"What does the electrum do?" Artemis asked

"Like Flash and Kid flash it quickens the healing process to any injury he might have sustained but it would also be very painful"

The team thought back to all the times Black Bat had been injured during their missions. At Cadmus Black bat didn't seem to be injured but now his behavior probably meant that the electrum was healing any injuries he had gotten from the building collapsing on top of him. Wally also thought back to when Zatanna had put on the Helmet of Fate and he had yelled at Black Bat for not stopping her, now he felt like a jerk, but how was he supposed to know that some serum inside him was causing too much pain for him to move

"How did Richard escape?" Artemis asked

"He didn't" Bruce told them and when they were about to speak up he held a hang up "Once the court felt that the league was getting to close to finding out where their base was they became quite angry that it was because we were trying to rescue Richard. So when he got back from another mission they had sent him on they had set fire to the base and left him inside to die"

Zatanna eyes widened, how many times had he come close to dying, he must have felt so betrayed when they had done that, he had worked so hard to gain their approval and acceptance only for them to stab him in the back

"We had arrived in time to rescue him just before the fire had consumed the base, he did have several injuries but by the time we got him back to the Hall of Justice the electrum had already healed them. Richard did have horrible scars from the court's treatment though"

Some of them lifted their eyebrows, none of them had ever seen any sign of any scars on Black Bat even though he didn't show much skin from what they had seen his skin was pure. Zatanna was just as confused she had actually gotten to see black bat once without a shirt on but there was no sign of any scaring

"He wear's fake skin" Selina told them answering their mental question "The scars are on his neck, wrists, and ankles"

Wally remembers the mission in Bialya when they had lost their memories and seeing the scaring on Black Bat's neck, he had thought it was something else because the next time he had seen him the scarring was gone

"The scaring on his neck were from a shock collar they had put him on if he ever disobeyed them or tried to escape while out on the field" getting grim looks from the team thinking of the electricity shocks he could have received from getting a horrible scar "And the scars on his wrists and ankles are from shackles they had put on him when he was held in his cell or when he was tortured"

Conner growled the word shackles made him think of a cage, those talons had treated his friend like some sort of pet. The other couldn't bear the thought of thinking of their friend being tortured while he was unable to move

"Once Richard was rescued we had to send him back to CPS where his old social worker sent him back to the Juvenile Detention Center, but this time around when the other inmates tried to bully him again he was able to fight back but ended up sending them most of them to the hospital"

"Well they deserved it if you ask me" Conner huffed

Zatanna couldn't really blame Richard though if you could protect yourself why not do it but sending them to the hospital was going a bit too far wasn't it, well that was the only fighting style he knew at the time

"Nobody was stupid enough to get killed right?" Wally asked

"No the worst he did was breaking a bone"

"Richard was also close to being deported" Selina spoke up

"Deported?!" Zatanna asked

"What's deported mean?" M'gann asked

"It means to send you out of the country, typically because you are illegally in the US" Kaldur explained

"Yes, Richard was originally born in Bucharest, Romania located in Europe" Selina nodded "But we were able to get him a working visa until he took a test last year and became an official US citizen. After that it only took a little more time until he was finally allowed to leave the detention center and come home with us"

Zatanna smiled thinking of Richard finally being free

"It had taken some time for Dick to get used to living in a mansion because he had been so used to a cell, but after a while he became accustomed to it, we enrolled him in Gotham Academy, and he's on several academic teams. One night while Batwoman and I were out on a mission Poison Ivy had put us under mind control so Richard had to come and help us by putting a suit together with our friend Alfred's help and managed to save us along with the commissioner"

"The article where the media named him Batboy?" Artemis asked

"Batboy?" Zatanna laughed a bit

"Yes Dick said the same thing when he saw the article the next day, it was originally supposed to be an only one-time thing but after some persuasion from his friend at school hoping this new child hero would make it official he had decided to continue. The league wasn't too happy with it though" Selina turned to Black Canary "None of them trusted Dick because they felt he was too much of an assassin to be let into the hero business"

"They had to at least give him a chance to prove himself" Zatanna cried

"Well now after 5 years of it some of them have accepted him" Selina smiled

"Really?" Conner put his fists on his hips and looked to black canary with a look on his face

"What?" she asked

"It took 5 years to prove himself?"

Artemis thought back to when Black Bat had tried to kill her father as Sportsmaster, that actually made a little sense why he knew how to kill and he was still new to being a hero at the time so his assassin training must have kicked in when her father tried to kill him. She was about to question why the league had accepted her so easily and not Richard but she remembered she had never actually committed any crime but his was massive

"But now" Batman got all their attention "The Court of Owls have returned as you've seen them on several missions and taken back Richard"

"Why would they want him back though? If they were just going to kill him in the end why didn't they just leave him alone" Zatanna cried gripping the bracelet on her wrist

"The Grandfather Ivo spoke of during the interrogation is the leader of the Court of Owls, his name is William Cobb. We assume he had taken Richard for some unknown reason because if they did want to kill him we would have found a body in that alley"

"But Richard can't do anything, he's sick" Zatanna remembered how pale he had looked on the hospital bed last night "I doubt the talons will nurse him back to health"

"The thing is Richard isn't actually sick, that was just a lie he had asked us to tell you so you wouldn't worry about him" Selina told them "He is actually dying"

"DYING!" Zatanna yelled

"But shouldn't the electrum be healing him from anything, even me and flash can't get and illness and die from it because of our abilities" Wally yelled

"We know, but the day when Zatanna, M'gann , and Conner found him unconscious here he had another episode back home where Alfred had to help him. We took him to the watchtower where Martian Manhunter and The Atom ran several tests on him and found that it was because of the electrum that this is happening to him" Selina explained

Bruce took over "When Richard hit puberty the electrum couldn't take the changes that his body was going under so it began attacking his organs preventing them from developing and are causing them to shut down. We were in the works of looking for a cure when Richard was kidnapped"

"But if the talons are the people who made the Electrum shouldn't they know how to cure it? Zatanna asked, she hoped that William cared for his grandson enough to save his life

"But why would the talons want to cure him, he's a traitor isn't he?" Conner asked

"Well his grandfather is the leader, he's family so he should save him right?" M'gann asked

"Not all family care about each other M'gann" Artemis crossed her arms

"Whatever reason the Court has taken Dick for, he is in no condition to do anything to severe that could cause his condition to worsen so we are hoping that William was give Dick the cure for it"

"We still need to save him, what if they make him become an assassin again?" Raquel asked

"He would never do that!" Zatanna yelled

"Well they could always do something with mind control or erase his memory" Kaldur thought thinking of Simon from bialya

"We don't even know where to start looking" Selina said "We were hoping that maybe Zatanna could perform a spell to make it easier to narrow down the places to search for him"

They all turned to Zatanna looking for an answer "Believe me I would do that with no hesitation but I am not trained enough to look for one person on an entire planet, maybe if we knew exactly which state he was in I could narrow it down to a city but…"

"What about that base?" wally asked looking to the Bats "The one that was supposed to be in Gotham, maybe it has some clues to where the talons are"

"It probably did but anything inside that base was destroyed in the fire"

"I can to a spell to temporarily restore it, everything would go back to the way it was before the fire like time-travel, the people inside would just be frozen though" Zatanna spoke up

"That's a great idea!" M'gann cheered

Selina looked to Bruce "Dick did say that William kept a case full of files in his office, maybe there's something inside of that that could help us"

Bruce thought about it, none of them had ever gone back to the base since the fire but this was their best chance of finding their son "Alright, the base is a few miles outside of the city"

"We can take my bio-ship to it" M'gann offered

"Then you should go, I'll tell everyone else where you've gone" Dinah told them

"Let's go"

oOo

Dick was panting heavily and sweating , it felt like it was over 100 degrees inside this container and his body was in serious pain that it was too painful to even move an inch, and his vision was way too blurry to even see anymore so he had resorted to leaving them closed. He sound of a door opening made his ears hurt

"I see the electrum is just about finishing you off" that sounded like William's voice "Then I suggest we hurry and administer the renizal right away"

He was too weak to even talk let alone move so how was he supposed to walk out of the container and follower William to the lab, he wondered until he heard a few buttons being pushed then the sound of something sliding above him and the sound of air. He groaned as he looked up at the top of the container to see some kind of gas filling up the container

If he had his full strength he would have begun panicking and yelling at William but he just closed his eyes and waited for the gas to fill the entire container, he coughed several times getting jolts of pain in his body every time until he lost consciousness and collapsed on the container floor

oOo

William waited a couple of minutes after the gas had completely filled the container and he could no longer see Richard through it when he pressed some buttons on the control panel outside the container and the air vents at the top of the container began sucking the gas out. Richard was lying unconscious on the floor now so he presses a large button on the control panel and the glass of the container lifted up

"Get the shackles off him and move him to the lab" William told the other two talons who had come with him to get Richard, he then walked out and headed for the lab

The two talons unlocked the shackles around Richards's wrists and ankles then one of them put him over their shoulder and went to follow William

_To be continued_


	44. Old Memories

Old Memories

"We're close, we should land here" Batwoman announced

M'gann nodded flying the Bio-ship toward the ground below them and opening the hatch in the back letting them all walk out to the forest

"So what does this base look like anyway?" Wally asked

"Most of it is underground" Batman continued to walk in the direction he remembered the base was

"Really?" Wally asked

"That would make sense, I mean hikers would have seen a giant base while walking out around here right?" Artemis said

"Gotham doesn't seem like the type to have hikers" Raquel frowned

They continued to walk until they began coming across ruins and the trees began clearing from the path "I'm guessing we're getting closer?" M'gann asked but neither of the bats answered until they finally stopped walking

"What's wrong?" Conner asked but still neither of them answered until the team looked in front of them and saw an old looking compound, it was falling apart, the nature around it had been growing over it and it didn't seem like anybody had ever been there since the talons disbanded

"Smaller than I thought I'd be" Wally muttered but then was slapped on the back of the head "Ow what?!"

"He said it was mostly underground"

"Oh right"

Batman ignored them moving to the entrance where the doors had collapsed in front of it and rusted over "It's too unstable in this condition to go inside"

"Zatannna can you perform the spell?" Batwoman asked

"Of course" Zatanna nodded moving into a floating sitting position putting her hands together and after a few seconds of concentrating she said the spell, after a burst of golden light from the compound everything looked so much younger around them, and it was suddenly night

"What happened?" Kaldur asked

"I reversed time to this part of the forest including the base to just a few hours before the fire destroyed it" Zatanna told them "I'm actually surprised it worked"

"Wow that's cool" Raquel smiled

Batman and Batwoman turned to the base entrance and it looked just like it did the day they rescued dick instead this time there was no fire coming from the inside

"Hey look up there" Wally pointed to the roof of the compound making them all look up to see some Talons standing at a look out post but they didn't even notice them

"They're frozen" Zatanna let them off their guard "Time is frozen at the point I reversed it"

"Oh ok"

Batman moved back to the entrance of the base and pushed the two large doors open leading into a dark hall way, batwoman close behind him along with the team

"What are we supposed to be looking for again?" Conner asked

"Anything that could give us a clue to where the new base is" Batwoman told them

"Can you read the minds of any talons like this?" Artemis asked M'gann

"I don't think so" she shook her head

Batman walked to the training area where they had found dick trapped under the large beam to now find it filled with some talons, training equipment, the beams were perfectly aligned supporting the ceiling. There was also a railing above them leading from one side of the area to the other

"This place is huge" Wally looked around the place

"Must have taken a lot of time to dig up the ground to build this" Conner crossed his arms

Zatanna looked around the place remembering that Bruce and Selina had told them Dick said he was not allowed outside for two years, there was no sign of any windows, grass, or nature that could have let him see the world beyond these metal walls. She looked up and looked at the talons in the room but not seeing any 9 year old boy that looked like her boyfriend so sighed in relief

"Doesn't seem like there's much around here" M'gann said

Batman looked up at the railing and moved over to climb the stairs with the others right behind him and looked to both hallways leading to different sections of the base "Team" turned to them "You will search the left section while Batwoman and I search the right, radio us if you find anything"

Kaldur nodded and turned to the others "Let's go" each of them running down the left hallway while the Bats turned to the right hallway

"This place is much bigger than I expected it to be" Wally looked around at all the hallways and doors "This is going to take a lot of time"

"Not if we split up" Conner offered

"I don't think that's a good idea we could get lost in this place" Zatanna said

"We always have our tracker to find each other" Raquel retorted

"So is that a yes?" M'gann asked turning to aqualad

"The talons are unable to move and it would cover more ground faster"

"That's all I needed to hear" Wally put down his goggles

"But!" kaldur yelled stopping him " I think we should at least take a partner with us"

"Ok then" Wally went over and picked up Artemis "Let's go" rushing off down a hallway

"I can go with you kaldur" Raquel offered and he nodded

"And Conner and I will go together" M'gann smiled holding his hand but then they all turned to Zatanna who was left alone

Zatanna imagined a silhouette of Black Bat next to her and sighed. M'gann came over to her "Well you can come with us right Conner"

"Yeah sure" Conner nodded and they took her with them down another hallway

"I didn't want to say this in front of Zatanna but do you think Bla-Dick is still alive?" Raquel asked

"I do believe that the Talons kidnapped him for a purpose as Batman concluded" Kaldur answered moving down another hallway

"I know that but he was also dying from the Electrum wasn't he? What if it killed him instead?"

"Even if he is no longer alive the Court of Owls do need to be stopped, and finding the base is a good way to start" she nodded following him

oOo

Wally and Artemis continued to walk down the hallway they had taken coming across a few locker rooms, Bedrooms, and other personal areas "Didn't these guys have real homes?"

"Well they were assassins right? Then they had to always be training or doing jobs for other people, I mean does your dad or sister ever come home?"

"No" She shook her head

"Maybe we should look through the lockers maybe there's something in there" Wally offered

"You think they would actually carry something like that around in their pockets?"

"Well you never know" He shrugged opening one of the lockers "No lock?"

"Everything was probably unlocked for the spell"

"Nothing much in this one" Wally shirted through the locker only finding some personal stuff like clothes, and some papers with plans on them for a machine. He turned back to artemis to see she was watching him "You gonna help?"

"Oh right" She moved to another locker opening it and shirting through the stuff

oOo

Conner, M'gann, and Zatanna walked through a much lower part of the base where it was much darker

"There isn't much down here from the looks of it" Conner looked around only finding empty hallways "There aren't even any talons down here"

M'gann continued to float on ahead, seemed that the only thing down here were the power systems, she opened a large door leading to another room that had vents leading to the ceiling "Probably the air and heat system"

Zatanna moved on from that room and found a dark hallway leading to a much lower part of the base "This isn't low enough?" looking to the hallways they were already on but from what she could see down that hallway there weren't even any lights down there. From the light emitting from the hallway she was in she could tell that down there was mostly made of concrete instead of metal

"What is it?" Conner came up behind her making her jump

"I'm getting a bad vibe from down there, maybe we shouldn't all we have to look for is clues right?" M'gann said joining them at the doorway sized entrance

Zatanna made a small orb of light in her hand and made it float in the air in front of her as she began walking down the stairs

"Zatanna!" M'gann yelled

"Everything is frozen, it's not like anything will hurt me" She assured them as she continued to move down the stairs. Conner thought it over and then followed after her and after some hesitation so did M'gann

The stair way wasn't as long as they thought it would be and soon came to the bottom finding the walls were made of more concrete along with the ground and ceiling

"What do you think is down here?" M'gann asked gripping Conner's arm like something was going to jump out at them

Zatanna was brave enough to keep her cool, if her boyfriend Dick had to live here for so long without anyone to comfort him than she would do it to by inspecting every part of the base if she had to, she could somehow sense that dick had been in this part of the base for most of the time he had been here. As they continued to move ahead they started to come across doors made of metal far apart from each other

"From the looks of it this is the prison part of the base" Conner frowned looking at the doors and moving to one of them gripping the handle a little nervous of what might be on the other side

"Conner?" M'gann asked

He shook the feeling out of himself and opened the door only to find that it was empty, just a simple concrete room with a rectangular window showing the forest outside so closed it back up "Nothing" answering the girls looks

They nodded moving ahead "Zatanna I don't think we're going to find much down here" M'gann told her as she continued walking

Zatanna bit her lower lip sensing something familiar ahead of her, she looked up to see a T intersection of hallways and moved to it sensing it was coming from the left side and moving down that way until she came to another metal door but there was no handle to it instead it looked like you had to have some kind of key to it

"Zatanna?" M'gann asked as they came to join her

"I sense something familiar inside" Zatanna gulped hoping it wasn't who she thought It was she didn't want to have to see him in the kind of condition it was described as even as a small child

Conner looked to the door also seeing it didn't have a handle or even a peephole to look inside, he could use his strength to force it open but was thinking the same thing as Zatanna "Do you want to see?"

After a bit of hesitation she nodded, she would try and feel the same thing dick had to help him through his recovery once they found him

Conner nodded and punched the door making a large dent in it then gripped the side of the dent and slide it open to find a pitch black room, not even a window like the one he had seen in the other room "I don't think anything's in here Zatanna"

Zatanna moved inside letting the orb light up the room to see it was a small square concrete room but when she looked ahead of her she saw what she had been sensing, there was a raggedy old blanket on the ground that had large blood stains on it. She looked to what was lying on the blanket to see shackles with connected to the ground with blood stains on the inside of it, she then looked to the back wall of the room to find two more shackles hanging from the wall with blood on the inside of them which was dripping onto the wall too

She was kind of happy she didn't find Dick himself in here but she did know that he was here and from the looks of it not too long ago

Conner hands turned into fists when he saw the shackles that were described to be Dick's cage, from the shortness of the chains on the wall and on the ground he could tell that dick had to sit up while he was chained to them and could barely move even an inch. The amount of blood here made him sick and something caught his eye on the right wall on a hook, he glared at the item that should only be used to train animals but he could tell it was used to torture his friend

M'gann didn't really want to be in this room any longer, she already concluded that Dick had been here a short time ago from a torture session so what was there left to see, he obviously wasn't here now and there weren't any clues that could help find him now so shouldn't they leave "I think we should move on there obviously isn't anything here"

Zatanna nodded turning back around and closing the metal door

oOo

Kaldur and Raquel searched through the hallways of their section finding a large cafeteria with several tables along with some talons inside going about the business they had that day while eating their food and talking

They had moved on ahead to find a hanger that looked somewhat like the hanger back at Mount Justice except it was much larger, there were a lot of motorcycles inside but all of them looked the same, and on a much outer part of the hanger they could see a helicopter with its pilot outside talking to another talon

"This is most likely the port center " Kaldur concluded

"Looks like someone is about to go on a mission too" Raquel looked over at the Talon and Pilot

"We should move on there isn't much for clues here" Kaldur turned around to walk back into the hallway when Raquel gripped his arm

"Shouldn't record the vehicles so maybe the style would stand out from any others we may see during our search for Dick?"

"Oh right" he nodded moving over to the vehicles

oOo

"Dick never did tell us where William's office was" Selina said as she and Bruce continued to walk down the hallway "Didn't really see the point since the base was destroyed"

Bruce nodded continuing to move down the hallway, there wasn't much that he could see not even any talons in this area but it did seem like an important part of the base "This was supposed to be a few hours before the base was destroyed, dick was on a mission wasn't he?"

"It's still early from the looks of it, I don't think he would have left yet" Selina said but she didn't really want to see 9 year old dick in his talon armor

Bruce nodded continuing to move down the hall until they came to a large metal door, it had an intercom next to it along with a handle, and above the door he could see a red light "This must be William's office"

Selina stepped forward and tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge, they thought about attaching a bomb to it but thought they might end up destroying some vital information "Perhaps Superboy could force it open"

Bruce reached to his com "Team report to my location"

"_Right away batman"_

"They'll be here in a few minutes"

And not to long after that the team began arriving, first were Wally and Artemis, then Kaldur and Raquel, and finally Conner, M'gann, and Zatanna. "We sorry but we didn't find much information that could be of use"

"It's alright but we think we've found William's office, Superboy can you force it open?" Selina asked and he nodded moving to it and doing the same thing he did with the prison door in the dungeon but they found two very important talons inside

Bruce and Selina already recognized one of them even thought his back was to them they could still recognize their own son at 9 years old, they tore their eyes from him and looked around the room that was William's office and saw the case of files dick had told them about. Bruce ignored the two people in the room and moved over to the case opening the first drawer that had dozens of files inside

"How are we going to look through all these?" Selina asked looking at all of them

"They're labeled" Bruce indicated to the top right half that had names on them of specific topics "Look for one that could indicate a new base"

She nodded opening another drawer and looking trough it finding battle plans, some names of people, blueprints, and other stuff dealing with the court.

While the bats were going over the files the team got curious of the two people standing in the room, and moved to the front of the child, Zatanna and Artemis's eyes widened at the sight of him, it was a younger version of Richard Wayne clad in his talon armor

"What's wrong?" Wally shook artemis's shoulder looking the kid up and down, the kid was looking at the ground but he could still see his eyes were a cerulean color

"Don't you recognize him?" Zatanna asked, she could recognize her new boyfriends face anywhere but the team had only seen a brief picture of him on the screen at the Mountain so said a spell to pull up an image of Richard and Black Bat each of both sides of the boy

"Black Bat!" M'gann moved closer to him getting a better look of him, but his face was emotionless even thought he was frozen

Conner looked his younger version friend over seeing he was dressed in his assassin armor that he had seen the other talons wearing on the mission to Santa Prisca, he had a sword strapped to his back, the strap had bombs attached to it, guns on his hips, knifes on his thighs, and a belt that contained other items he used in the field. he didn't look happy though his face didn't portray any emotion at all

Zatanna had always wondered what her boyfriend was like when he was little, he was supposed to be 9 years old right now, and his height was about the same with her chest, she would actually call him a little cute if he had a happy smile on his face

The rest of the team was a little shocked to see their friend dressed as an assassin, he had a lot of deadly items on his person at the moment, a 9 year old boy shouldn't have those kind of things in his possession but they remembered that Dick was not your average 9 year old child. The team turned to the person behind them

While the two bats we're going over the files Bruce did come across a file with Richard John Grayson labeled on it, he was a bit curious and took it out opening it up to find a small picture of their son at the top paperclip to the file, he also saw a few other documents with Haley's circus involving them but what really caught his eye were two familiar names as signitures on the bottom of the paper

"What is it?" Selina asked

"It's the contract the Grayson's made with the Court" Bruce glared at the paper and also finding Dick's birth certificate below his picture "And Dick's birth certificate"

"Really?" Selina moved to see it too

During Dick's adoption they had no original record of his birth certificate so had to get a copy of it instead, they had always thought that the court had destroyed all evidence of dick's existence so never asked him if he knew where his original birth certificate was

"So is this William?" they heard and turned to see the team looking at the man so turned to look at him too, he seemed to be about ra's age, about the same height as Bruce and muscular considering his age. They also saw those familiar cerulean eyes

"We've never actually seen William so we wouldn't know" Selina told them, dick had described what he looked like though and the man did match the description

Bruce turned back to the files and looking through them and after another short while he found one labeled 'Base 2' so took it out and opened it seeing it had several maps in it, one had an image of Europe so that narrowed down the search to a continent "Dick isn't in America anymore" he concluded

"Where is he?" Selina asked as the team came up to them wanted to hear too

"The new base is located in Europe" He told them as he continued to read over the papers and found another map between the papers finding it was an image of Romania that William had put several marking on in Romanian. "It's narrowed down to a state" looking to Zatanna "Romania"

"I should be able to perform a locator spell now" She nodded

"This seems a little too easy don't you think?" kaldur asked drawing their attention "Wouldn't it seem to careless to leave something so vital in such an obvious place and have us come to the new base?"

"That is true, do you think it could be a trap?" Raquel asked

"We'll find out in time" Bruce told them "When we go and search for Dick at the new base we'll be sure to bring backup"

"The one's in the league who actually care about dick" Selina smiled

oOo

It took several days but the process was finally complete

William smirked watching the lid begin opening and his grandson began stretching his muscles as he stepped out onto the floor "Is see you're finally done" his eyes twitched and his raised his head to Williams face "How do you feel…grandson?"

He smirked opening his eyes with a dark look on his face "Perfect...Grandfather" grinning

_To be continued_


	45. Born Talon

Born Talon

As soon as Zatanna had enough power she had immediately performed the locator spell for Richard on Europe, Romania, the bats had been very hopeful that it would be much easier to find their son this time since they could narrow down the places to search but were a bit worried that it would be just like when dick was kidnapped at 6 years old

They could only narrow down the search to Gotham and yet they couldn't find him without him coming out into the open and getting clues from Lex Luthor, they had thought that the base was hidden just like Cadmus labs was and had never thought it was out in the forest. Once Zatanna casted her spell the red dot indicated that Richard was in Bucharest

"Well at least now we know he's still alive" M'gann smiled

The bats inwardly sighed in relief, they son was still alive, the electrum should have killed him by now since they had estimated the deterioration would be finished in just two weeks and he had been with the Court for most of that time. William must have given him the antidote but for what purpose they doubted William actually cared about his grandson

"But why the capital?" Wally asked

"Yeah wouldn't that be a little too obvious?" Artemis added

"That was the place Dick was born" Selina offered

"But isn't Bucharest a really large city, how are we supposed to find the base in all of this?" Raquel asked as they brought up an image of Bucharest

"Maybe they have the base out in the forest too underground" Conner offered

Bruce expanded the image of Bucharest to the forests outside of it and found there were large fields of forest surrounded the city, how were they supposed to search all of this land for something that was so well hidden

"Should we depart for Romania batman?" Kaldur asked

"Not yet" he told them

"What?! Why?!" Zatanna asked

"We can't be too rash about this, first of all we have only narrowed down the search to a large city not an exact place, and second even if we already found the base we would not be enough to take on all the assassins that are there"

"Are you going to ask the league for help then?" Artemis asked

"Well most of them could care less what happens to dick but maybe we could persuade them to help by putting an end to the Court of Owls for good" Selina offered

"I know my Uncle Barry would help, he likes dick right?"

"Yes he vouched for him to stay on the team" Bruce remembered the conversation the league had last December

"Well let's call them all up and get them to help us search for the base" Zatanna told them

"With the speed and flying of all of us we can cover a lot of ground that way" Raquel added

Batman looked to Batwoman and she nodded agreeing with the team to get the league's help _"All available Justice League members report to Mount Justice immediately" _he said into his com-link

oOo

"Richard you may come out now" William called

And out of the shadows behind him came Richard fully clad in his Talon armor "Yes grandfather?"

"We need to make sure your skills are efficient enough for you to be welcome to the talons"

"Do you really doubt me that much grandfather?" Richard gave a small smirk

"It is much better to be safe than sorry is it not?"

"Correct" he nodded agreeing

"Follow me to the training section" William motioned for him to follow so Richard crossed his arms and followed close behind him

As they made their way to their destination they did come across some of the prisoner sections where talons had been interrogating them about information they wanted and using brutal methods of doing so making the people cry out in pain but it didn't faze Richard in the slightest he didn't even twitch or give the person a glance

William was pleased that the interrogations did not faze his grandson he had purposely decided to take this route to the training section to see if he would attempt to protect the prisoners but as he could see Richard could care less what happened to them "The first thing we will be testing is your aim Richard" he told him as they began getting closer to the training section "you will be handling a gun and making sure your aim is precise"

"Will the target be actual living beings grandfather?" he heard him ask without turning around

"Yes will that be a problem?" he asked when he heard a slight sound from him and turned to him

Richard was giving a small grin "Not at all"

oOo

"Are you sure he's still alive?" Superman asked

"Sorry to disappoint you but he is" Selina glared

"I was asking because of the electrum shouldn't the electrum have finished him off by now?"

"No!" Zatanna yelled

"William most likely the antidote for what purpose is unknown" Bruce told him

"So will you help us look for him or not?" Conner crossed his arms

When the Justice League members had arrived at the mountain it was consisted of the mentors of the team but also included Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Icon, Green Arrow

"I'll do it I can cover a lot of ground in that forest with my speed" Flash agreed

"Thank you Barry" Selina smiled

"I will as well" Martian Manhunter agreed he had taken a liking to Richard and after seeing him in the condition he was in from the gunshot he realized that he was just a child

"Thanks Uncle J'onn"

"Icon you'll help us too right? He's our teammate and he's proven multiple times that he's a hero" Raquel persuaded her mentor and he nodded his head agreeing

"I don't want to lose anyone else so I'll help too" Green Arrow agreed Roy had all but disappeared from the radars and once they got done with the search for Richard they would be able to focus their attention on Roy

So the only ones left to persuade were Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern since kaldur already got Aquaman to agree.

"We can always do this without you, you'll only hold us back if you're not fully committed to helping" Conner huffed

"What?!" Wonder Woman put her hands on her hips

"I'm saying you may be too weak to help us out I mean you're used to taking down people who have powers so maybe you can't take on assassins" Conner smirked

The rest of the team saw where Conner was going with this and joined in

"Yeah he's right you can all just go back to patrolling your cities or whatever while we handle the big mission, you obviously don't want to help anyway" Wally crossed his arms

"We have enough already right with Icon, Green Arrow, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter who needs super strength and flight from Superman and Wonder Woman, and I doubt a power ring would be very helpful against assassins" Artemis smirked

Selina gave a small smile at what the team was doing they were using reverse psychology to persuade the three into helping saying they were too weak and from the looks of it, it was working from the offended looks on their faces

"So run along I'm sure there's some robberies, kidnapping, or something going on out there that needs your help" Raquel told them

Oh that really got them to agree when the team listed the petty crimes that normal criminals could be doing but the police could handle, while they would be handling taking down a large organization like the Court of Owls three of the main original 7 justice league members would be patrolling or sitting around not likely

"Took you long enough" Zatanna huffed

"So what's our first plan of action?" Barry asked

"We need to scout the area of Bucharest we can't leave anything unchecked, the base is most likely underground like the last one was" Bruce told them

"Superman you can fly over the forest and use your X-ray vision to try to find the base while flash and Kid Flash use their speed to scout the area by ground" Selina offered

"But we don't want to alert the talons that we're on to them, they could kill try to kill dick like they did the last time right?" Zatanna asked

"Yes, try to be as covert as possible about this" Bruce told them

oOo

"I am beginning to think you are enjoying this Richard" William smirked as Richard finished practicing his aim on shooting the prisoners they had

"What if am?" he smirked back

Richard had already finished shooting over 20 people in the vital areas killing them instantly as the bullet pierced their bodies, he grinned when he saw the look of fear in the eyes of his targets letting himself savor the moment before he killed them

"I can see that your aim is very efficient" William looked over the bodies seeing the bullets had punctured vital organs like the brain and heart

"Thank you Grandfather" he bowed

"Very well then, the next skill we need to check is your sword fighting, you will be going up against 4 other highly trained talons, that will not be too much for you am I correct"

"Of course not"

"But make sure not the kill them"

Richard huffed "Why we have many other talons that can replace them do we not?"

"Yes but I do not want to have to deal with the consequence of that"

"Fine" he crossed his arms

oOo

Richard was now standing on the platform with four other talons surrounding him with their swords in hand, he had his sword ready to fight as well waiting for the first talon to make their move, and it wasn't long until that happened. The talon in front of him ran forward as he got into a stance and blocked the sword with his own then pushed him back, the talon flipping to get into a proper stance

The talon on his side ran forward and tried to slash his leg but Richard moved it out of the way as he blocked another talon with his sword and used him as a way to kick the talon that tried to cut him in the jaw before flipping over the other and kicking him on the back of the head sending him to the ground

'Two down two to go' he told himself as he ran at one of them with his sword and began sending a few strikes at each other when the other talon joined in behind Richard so he jumped out of the way making the two talons strike each other's swords until Richard landed a powerful blow to one of the talons sending him to the ground because of his enhanced strength

'One more' he looked to the last talon and began sending strikes at him too before they were at a stand still trying to force the other down with their own strength until Richard began loosening his grip letting the other's sword get more strength so he quickly moved grapping the man's wrist shocking him and twirled around kicking him on the shoulder blade dislocating it. The man was forced to drop his sword so he had to resort to fighting instead sending his own kick at Richard but he blocked it with his arm then sent a round house kick at the man knocking him to the ground

"Very good Richard" William smirked at the unconscious men on the ground

"It would have been more fun if I could actually hurt them" He huffed putting his sword back in the sheath on his back and sitting on the ground

"He has quite the potential William" A voice called out from the shadows making Richard turn his head over to where it came from and saw a man come out dressed in black and orange "He is the heir you spoke of I take it?"

"Yes, my grandson Richard" William turned to him "Richard this is Slade Wilson, otherwise known as Deathstroke the terminator"

"Terminator?" He scoffed

"Yes he is the most highly trained mercenary in the world after all" William told him

Richard nodded but had a bored expression on his face "so why may I ask is the great Deathstroke the Terminator here for grandfather?"

Slade knew Richard was looking down on him but didn't really take any offence to it like he usually would

"Wilson takes part in helping me command the Talons, he is also part of the group that helped me rebuild the Court of Owls"

"I see" he looked over to slade "Well it is very nice to meet you Wilson"

"Why have I never heard of this grandson William?" Slade asked he did see the familiar cerulean eyes in Richard but he didn't really think William had any living family

"He was off on some training for most of the time of the courts disbandment, but I had some talons go and retrieve him for me, he did need a little molding of course but in time he became the rightful heir to the court"

Slade nodded looking over to the boy in question and decided to test him by walking over to him and standing in front of the boy, Richard was sitting Indian style on the floor looking up at slade with his arms crossed "Yes?" he smiled mockingly

He narrowed his eye at Richard "How old are you boy?"

"Why want to give me a birthday present?" he pretending he was thinking hard "Though you would be giving it to me really early since its 10 months from now"

"He's 14 Wilson" William answered for him knowing Richard wouldn't that sarcastic attitude was something they couldn't fix

"That's really unfair grandfather you won't even tell me your age"

It actually took a lot of Williams will not to strangle Richard when he brought out that attitude, but he always reminded himself that he was only like that at certain times "Why don't you hit the showers Richard"

"Sure" Richard was about to get up when slade held out a hand to him making him lift an eyebrow and look up at him

"Let me help you up" Slade was testing him

Richard tilted his head and after a moment he smiled and took slade's hand getting to his feet, when slade was about to punish for even trusting him with his help Richard twisted his hand backwards dislocating his wrist "Thank you so much for your help Wilson" he smiled before walking off

'So the boy is more talented than I thought' Slade smirked under his mask while relocated his wrist

_To be continued_

**I'm still debating on if I want it to be mind control or a clone, I'm gonna let the reviewers help me decide on that but I do have plans for Deathstroke in the future **


	46. Clone

Clone

It was a long flight to Bucharest from Rhode Island but by the time they got there it was already dark out so that way it was less crowded on the streets and they could better hide in the shadows

"Do we search the city too?" Wally asked Batman once they landed and got out of the bio-ship close to the city

"Yes the base could be like Cadmus hidden under than one of the buildings" Kaldur added

Batman thought about it and it would make a little sense to do that so they would be harder to find that way but still made sure to search the forests too, there was a lot of ground to cover on both ends "Alright the team will search the city, while the league members search for the base in the forest. Make sure to stay hidden and use your stealth tech"

The team nodded and headed into the city

"Shouldn't one of us go with them?" Batwoman asked

"Green Arrow and I will go I doubt we'll cover much ground on foot" Black Canary offered pulling Oliver by the arm

"We'll keep an eye out for any talons too" Oliver called back

"I have faced Ra's al Ghul in underwater bases before" Batman brought up while looking to Aquaman "You can check in the ocean to see if there's any base down there"

"Alright" Orin nodded moving over to the lake they had passed and dove in

"And the rest of us can search for the base in the forest" Batman looked around at all of them "Flash you can cover more ground by running so go on ahead" Flash nodded and rushed off "Martian Manhunter, Icon, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern all of you can take to the skies and but use the stealth tech to stay hidden"

Each of them tapped on their uniforms making them all turn into black and gray then flew up into the sky leaving the two bats to search on foot

"How long do you think it's going to take to find Dick this time?" Selina asked once they began heading through the trees

"I don't know but with so many of us searching the city this time around I don't think it will take that long"

"From the location spell Zatanna made we do know he's still alive, but why would they keep him alive all this time, do you think dick is somehow under their control"

"I don't think so, dick is strong, if William really did give him the cure for the electrum he should be able to fight anything off including mind control, but if not we do have Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian to repair his mind"

Selina nodded

oOo

"I am starting to think this course of action was not a good decision sir" Lucas reported to William as they watched on the monitor as Richard continued his training with the other talons in their GI's instead of their armor "Believe me he is a good fighter but on the other topics not so much"

Richard flung the last talon standing into the wall behind him smirking _"Come on is that all you got? Get up and fight like men!" _he taunted just before William shut the video off

"Perhaps we could reprogram him sir" Lucas asked

"Not quite he is not aware he is a clone after all"

"Then why not just inform him of this information sir? He will find out eventually"

"Don't pester me Lucas, go out there and try to get him under control"

He sighed "Yes sir" he bowed before leaving the room

Once Lucas left his office William pulled up another security video feed of the prison section to a particular room where it held the real Romanian 14 year old in the containment unit, there wasn't much to watch because he was still in his induced comatose state

'If only he were still loyal to the court I would not have to had settled for the clone' he shook his head the clone was programmed to be loyal to the court and have the same skills as the original did but because they had to cut out the memories of the circus and the league they had to take out most of his personality

oOo

Richard left the training center to shower after beating all of the talons that were supposed to be making him stronger but they were hardly a match for his skills but once he returned to his room he realized he had not studied at all since his grandfather had assigned him work. He moaned at the sight of the thick novel he had to read 'What's the point of this, it's not like I'll ever have to use this in the field'

He realized that in all the time he had been here he had not once been sent out on a mission with the other talons, he was missing out on all the fun he could be having, he was the grandson of the leader of the Court of Owls so shouldn't he be allowed to prove his skills on the targets. So instead of doing his studies he went to his grandfather's office to ask that very question

He lifted an eyebrow when he found that the large double doors to his grandfather's office we're left open and heard William was talking to someone so decided to listen in, but he did not expect to hear what he heard

Slade had come to William's office to talk about Richard's attitude towards being the best assassin in the world, though it was good to enjoy the profession the way Richard was, it was just unprofessional, the boy had to grow up and take this seriously

"The boy obviously need to be reeducated William" Slade crossed his arms while Richard rolled his eyes from behind the wall

"The talons can heal just fine because of the renizal in their systems" Richard lifted an eyebrow at the renizal word

"Even so" Slade argued "Where had that boy been all these years, you would think he was raised in the jungle by wild animals"

William sighed "The truth is the Richard you have seen was grown, not born"

Richard's eyebrows furrowed 'What does that mean?'

"Grown?" Slade's eye narrowed

"Yes, you see the Richard you have seen is actually a clone" Richard's eyes widened he looked like he had just been slapped on the face "I had no other choice, I needed a blood relative heir for the Court of Owls once I have passed"

"Was the original dying of a disease?" Slade asked

"He was dying" Richard smirked and crossed his arms "but I cured him" his smirk dropped "You do know of the electrum that is administered to the talons am I correct"

"Yes of course"

"Well the original Richard had betrayed the court by taking a profession fighting alongside the Justice League" William spat "though I had administered the electrum to him when he was 9 he had been away until just recently and was dying from the deterioration effect. I cured him by administering the renizal, he was unwilling to be my heir to the court so I had to clone him instead"

Richard was dumbfounded by the sudden information; he was just a cheap copy of someone, a replacement, just a second choice from what William really wanted!

Slade took a minute to take in this information "Was the original as…..unprofessional as this clone?"

"No, the reason his clone is like this is because during his programming we had to alter the personality to make sure he did not receive any memories of the league or his family. When Richard was still loyal to the court he was very professional, he took my orders silently, did his studies as told, and created most of the equipment I use for the training"

"Seems like a much more worthy Talon of being your heir"

Richard began getting angry now

"Yes, but sadly he is not willing to be an assassin once again, he is too brainwashed by the league, although he did tell me most of them did not trust him in the least"

"Which sidekick was your grandson?" Slade asked thinking he could use that information in the future

William turned to the computer behind him and pulled up a file of all the research he had done on Richard while he was away for his Black Bat personal "He became Black Bat shortly after he was taken in by Batman and Batwoman" he did not tell slade their alter egos though

"I have heard of Black Bat, he is supposed to be a very strong foe and should not be underestimated because of his age"

"He was originally a very deadly assassin; I looked into his school records as well he is always at the top of his class and wins multiple awards for his academic achievements"

Slade didn't show it but he was really impressed with the original, he seemed like a better choice of being anyone's heir "Why not simple turned to mind control instead of cloning William, or just a memory wipe from before he betrayed you?" that would seem like a better option

"Richard would have fought it off eventually, he is quite stubborn"

Something in Williams's words caught his attention "You talk as if Richard is still alive"

This caught the clone Richard's attention

"He is" Richard's eyes widened "Once I had the renizal administered into his bloodstream, it had an unusual effect on his personality which is only temporary. The renizal causes anyone who is administered to it to become quite deadly by attacking those around him, the adult talons that are administered to it can fight it but because Richard is only 14 he had to be restrained until the effects subsided"

"I take it the effects are still in progress then"

"Richard was put into a comatose state until the effects subsided, he is in a containment unit in the prison of the court, I kept him alive in case I ever needed to clone him once again or once the effects subsided he would change his mind"

"You plan to awaken him at some point?"

"The Renizal's effects should have subsided days ago actually I just haven't decided to awaken him, I am still waiting to see if the clone will be a good heir for the court"

"Well from what I've seen the clone if far too immature to lead the talons"

"Perhaps I could reprogram him somehow, or I will have to have him destroyed and try again in cloning the original Richard"

"I believe it is too late to keep fooling the clone any longer William" Slade said once he saw out of the corner of his eye Richard step into the doorway of the office with a very angered expression on his face, William turned to him and sighed

"I assume you heard everything"

"Of course"

"You should know it is against orders to eavesdrop on my conversations"

"What so you could just keep lying to me until you had me destroyed?!"

Slade shook his head "If you weren't so immature there would be no need to have you destroyed"

"Well apparently that wasn't my fault it was my supposed Grandfather's fault"

"Even thought you are a clone, you are still the son of the original Richard, so by far you are my grandson as well"

"This original is only 14; he's far too young to be a father to anyone!"

"That is not the point; you should have never learned that you were a clone"

"The only reason I exist is because the original didn't want to be your heir right?! He's supposed to be the perfect heir you wanted right?!"

William smirked and shook his head "You sound so much like him when you're angry you know that, and here I thought you were supposed to have your own personality"

"I am nothing like him!"

Slade smirked too "How would you know clone? You have not even met your..'father' shall we say"

"This had nothing to do with you Wilson, so stay out of it!" Richard glared

"You cannot order me around child; you are supposed to be destroyed so I can do it right now and save William the trouble"

"Enough!" William yelled "Richard was supposed to be my heir but he refuses that is why I created the clone, if Richard was still loyal to me he would be the better choice" William admitted, he didn't care about the clone's feelings anyway

"Why don't I prove that I'm the better choice then!" Richard argued

"What?" William eyes narrowed

"This original was supposed to be the best sidekick and assassin you have seen for his age right, then why don't I prove you wrong, let the real Richard out and I can kill him myself with my superior skills, he won't have the guts to kill me"

"It is too dangerous to let Richard out of the containment unit"

"You said so yourself, the renizal's effects should have subsided by now"

"There is no need to prove who's stronger" William felt that the match would just be a waste of time

"Why afraid" Richard smirked and crossed his arms

"What!" William glared

"Afraid that I'll prove you wrong?"

Slade chuckled getting their attention "I'd actually like to see this match as well William, I'd like to see this clone put in its place, from what I've heard the original is far stronger than him" Richard glared at him but he ignored it

William eyes narrowed "Richard will not want to fight you; he is far too soft when it comes to these things"

"Then I'll make him" Richard argued

"I guess you will have to see for yourself then" William shook his head "Fine, I will take you to see Richard, follow me" he walked out of his office with Richard close behind

Slade decided to stay not wanted to show himself to the original just yet so instead pulled up the security footage of all the prison containment units and found one with a boy sleeping inside one with a mask over his nose and mouth also a collar around his neck and shackles "Need so many restraints" he observed "Must be very powerful"

oOo

"I'm starting to think that the base isn't in the city" Zatanna was levitating over the buildings with M'gann and rocket but staying hidden in the darkness of the night

"I agree, we have searched almost all the large building in this city and there is none with anything leading underground" Kaldur concluded

"So you think the base really is in the forest" Wally stopped running and sped up to kaldur

"It would be a better option to hide a place that massive"

"The old base had a port and I doubt any of these buildings would have something like that so the talons could go out on their missions" Raquel added

"Should we go and join the league in searching the forest then?" M'gann asked

"I don't know? Wouldn't Batman and Batwoman want us to be very thougrough?" Conner asked since they had only searched the large buildings and the ones that had been closed for the night

"I think Rocket's right" Artemis stated "Why would this large organization of assassins make their base underground of a fake company I mean how would they go out on their missions without getting caught with all these others people around"

"I guess you're right" Zatanna nodded she just wanted to find her boyfriend and get him to safer location, if only she would pinpoint his exact location this search would be a lot easier

"I'll contact Batman and ask if we should join their search" Kaldur told them as he moved away from the group while pressing his com-link

"Shouldn't you be able to sense him somehow?" Superboy asked Zatanna "Back at the old base you were able to sense his blood in that cell so shouldn't you be able to do that here?"

"I was only able too because I was really close to the location of the source, but I don't sense him around here"

"Well that just adds to the list on why we should look in the forest for him" Wally smiled

"Right and maybe while we're looking in the forest you can pick up on his energy and you can lead us straight to him" M'gann added

"Great idea" Raquel smiled

oOo

Dick felt a little lethargic as he began waking up, he groaned as he rubbed his head and began opening his eyes, he woke up to find he was in the containment unit _'_Oh right I'm with the court again'

"Took you a while Richard" a voice made him turn to the panel and see William

He glared at him "What do you want William!"

"My I thought you would be more appreciative that I cured you of the electrum's deterioration"

Dick eyes widened 'oh right' he forgot how sick he had been, the last thing he remembered was being in the containment unit but felt like he was really dying, the memory was really blurred but he felt normal again, he felt no pain at all and his vision was as clear as day "I know you wouldn't have cured me without a reason"

"Yes I told you that I needed an heir if you recall, though from what I see you have not changed your mind about it have you"

"You really thought I would"

"Well from your actions after the renizal was administered I had hoped so, you were quite violent and had tried to kill some of our talons after breaking out of the restraints"

Dick didn't remember any of that happening

"Though I doubt you remember"

"Why am I still alive then, shouldn't you have been able to get your precious sample from me and killed me while I was asleep?" he remembered William had said he wasn't going to make him get a girl pregnant

"I kept you alive in case I ever needed another sample of your dna"

"Another sample?" he lifted an eyebrow

"Yes" William smirked and looked behind his shoulder to the shadows of the open door "You may come in now" dick looked to the door and slowly came out someone who looked exactly like him shocking him "Richard meet your son"

"I'm not his son!" the clone yelled

Dick didn't understand what was going on, how long had he been asleep, he thought that the clone would be at least in his childhood years like he had when he had been brought to the court so he could be completely brainwashed "I ask again why am I still alive if he's your new hair?" he asked after a while

"Like I said before, I needed to make sure I would not need to clone you once again"

"And you don't I'm perfectly capable of being the Court's leader"

"You are too immature and unskilled"

"That's why I'm going to prove to you that I'm better than him" the clone pointed to dick in the container

"Wait what?!" dick asked lifted an eyebrow

"You see Richard, the clone is very immature, he is too unprofessional about the assassin's priorities, he overheard one of my conversations with a friend of mine learning he was just a copy of you, I had also said that if you were still loyal to me he would not have had to be made, so the clone wants to prove he's better than you by a match with you"

"So let's get to it" Richard crossed his arms

Dick looked dumbfounded "I'm not gonna fight anyone!" crossing his arms and leaning against the glass behind him

"Well there you have it" William looked to the clone

Richard was not taking no for an answer and glared at dick "Why won't you fight me?"

"Because I don't see the point I don't need to prove that I'm the better choice for an heir because I am not going to be Williams's successor"

"This match isn't to prove who's going to be Grandfather's heir, it's to prove which one of us is stronger"

"Again no point of it, I don't care which one of us is stronger"

"Afraid you'll lose?" Richard decided to try the same method he did with William to get what he wanted

"Ah reverse psychology? Sorry that won't work on me"

"Reverse what?" Richard asked

"You're supposed to have my knowledge how do you not know what that means?"

William stepped in "We had to take out most of your memories from his programming so that may be a reason"

"I'm not stupid!" Richard yelled

"Anyone should know reverse psychology is a technique to persuade someone into doing something by using behavior that is opposite to what you desire. How can you do it without knowing what you're doing"

"Look I didn't come here for an English lesson I came here to get you to fight" Richard yelled

"Well that's not going to happen, so you can just go ahead and kill me William I don't care about my life anyway"

"So what if the league comes here searching for you?" Richard brought up using another method to persuade him "And I can pose as you to infiltrate the league, all I have to do is act just like you right?"

"That is actually a good idea Richard" William actually wanted to see the right too

That got Dick's attention, and began getting worried if that actually happened he would have no way to warn them if he was already dead "They would know it wasn't me" Zatanna for sure

"Are you sure?" Richard smirked seeing the hesitation in his face

"Even if I agreed to the fight, I wouldn't kill you, I'm not an assassin anymore"

"That's because you're too soft to kill" Richard yelled

"I'm not soft!"

"Then prove it!"

"I don't need to prove anything!" Dick crossed his arms and he realized something he felt his skin on his arms touch the skin of his chest and looked down to see he only had a pair of cargo pants on "What happened to my suit?!" looking over to the table to see his other equipment was gone

"Oh that" William rolled his eyes "Your suit was disposed of, I did not see the need for you to wear something like that if you were my grandson"

"I am not your grandson!"

"Deny it all your want Richard but you cannot deny the facts of our family tree" dick glared at him

"Stop getting off topic" Richard glared at dick

"Look now I really can't fight you, I don't have any source of weapons not that he threw away my utility belt"

"The court will provide your weapons"

"I am not going to use a sword"

"Don't know how huh?"

"Of course I do I just.."

"Then let's go"

"No"

"Then I'll just keep pestering you until you do"

"You really are immature"

"What!"

"See! I'm not going to have a verbal fight this pointless" dick turned his back to them

Richard growled and got a knob on the control panel switching the electricity to high voltage shocking Dick but William ran up and turned it off

"What the heck!" Dick yelled turning back to the them the injuries from the electrocution had healed instantly with no pain, it felt more soothing than painful

"Well it was to get you to fight" Richard growled

"Are you that insecure about your own skills?"

"Don't change the subject I'm going to keep using different methods until you agree to fight"

Dick narrowed his eyes at his clone

William smirked "You should know by now you aren't going to win this Richard"

Dick hoped that if he ever did have a child they wouldn't be as immature as this clone "This isn't a fight to the death is it?"

"Of course" Richard smirked

"But I won't kill you"

"What makes you sure you'll win at all"

"Because I can already tell that I don't have to be stronger than you to win"

"Well I'm just going to have to prove you wrong"

"You will need better attire Richard" William opened a panel near the container revealing a talon uniform made just for Richard "Don't want to get killed in nothing but a pair of pants right"

Dick growled

_To be continued_


End file.
